DEERFIELD, Unwell. — Walgreens on Thursday mentioned it gained’t promote an abortion tablet by mail in 20 conservative-led states.
The assertion comes after attorneys normal in 20 states final month warned Walgreens and CVS that they may face authorized penalties in the event that they promote abortion drugs by mail in these states.
Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman confirmed that the corporate despatched a response to every of the attorneys normal saying that it’ll not dispense mifepristone of their states.
Nineteen U.S. states have imposed restrictions on abortion drugs, however there’s a courtroom battle over whether or not they have the ability to take action in defiance of U.S. Meals and Drug Administration coverage. A doctor and an organization that makes the tablet mifepristone filed separate lawsuits earlier this yr looking for to strike down bans in North Carolina and West Virginia.
The FDA for greater than 20 years restricted allotting of the drug to a subset of specialty places of work and clinics due to security considerations. But it surely eased restrictions for the reason that begin of the COVID-19 pandemic by eliminating the in-person requirement for the tablet and permitting brick-and-mortar pharmacies to dispense it. At the very least one lawsuit filed by abortion opponents argues that the FDA has overstepped its authority in approving the abortion medicine.
Engerman mentioned the corporate isn’t at the moment allotting mifepristone, though it’s working to turn out to be eligible via an FDA-mandated certification course of. That course of requires pharmacies to satisfy particular requirements in delivery, monitoring and confidentially storing drug prescribing data.
He mentioned the corporate “will dispense solely in these jurisdictions the place it’s authorized to take action if we’re licensed.”
Walgreens’ motion was first reported by Politico.
