This photo illustration shows packs of Mifepristone tablets at a family planning clinic on April 13, 2023 in Rockville, Maryland.
Anna Geldmaker | Getty Images
The Democrats in the House of Representatives issued a call on Thursday walmart, Costco, KrogerSafeway and Health Mart to publicly commit to selling the prescription abortion pill mifepristone in their retail pharmacies.
Ongoing lawsuits have jeopardized the approval of mifepristone in the US. For now, it is the most common method of terminating a pregnancy in the country.
The five companies have been silent for months about whether they will be certified to sell mifepristone under a Food and Drug Administration program that monitors how the medication is distributed and used by patients.
“It is unconscionable that five of the largest pharmacies in the country are refusing to declare whether they will receive certification to provide basic, legal, FDA-approved medical abortion health care for Americans,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY, in a statement Thursday.
Goldman and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., sent a letter asking the companies’ CEOs to confirm before June 23 whether their pharmacies will become certified to sell the abortion pill.
More than 50 other Democratic legislators signed the letter.
“Your continued silence is unacceptable, as it is inconsistent with your publicly stated values of supporting equal access to health care and gender equality,” lawmakers said in the letter to CEOs.
Democratic governors and senators asked the companies in March if their pharmacies will become certified to dispense the medication. The companies have still not taken a public position on the matter.
The largest pharmacies in the US have become increasingly caught up in the national battle over access to abortion, sparked by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last June. More than a dozen states have banned abortion since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 decision that protected access to the procedure as a exactly according to the US Constitution.
As conservative states introduced abortion bans after Roe’s fall, the FDA sought to expand access to mifepristone in January by allowing pharmacies to dispense the medication for the first time if they become certified.
The agency also permanently allowed women to obtain the pill by mail.
CVS And Walgreensthe two largest pharmacy chains in the US said shortly after the FDA’s decision that they would become certified to sell mifepristone where it is legal to dispense the medication.
The companies soon faced a backlash from Republican attorneys general, who fear easier access to mifepristone, particularly by mail, will undermine their states’ restrictive abortion laws or outright bans.
GOP attorneys general warned CEOs of CVS and Walgreens that they would take legal action if the companies sold the pill in their states. Walgreens confirmed to the attorneys general that the company would not sell mifepristone in their states.
Walgreens was subsequently beaten by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The liberal governor refused to renew a state contract with Walgreens because of his move.
Mifepristone’s status as an FDA-approved drug faces a very uncertain future, even in states where abortion remains legal.
An anti-abortion physician group sued the FDA last November to remove mifepristone from the US market entirely.
US Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in the Northern District of Texas ruled in April in favor of anti-abortion doctors and suspended FDA approval. The Supreme Court intervened in the case, retaining access to mifepristone while the trial unfolded.
A three-judge panel of the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is now hearing the case and may rule at any time. Appeals court judges were skeptical of the Justice Department’s defense of mifepristone during oral arguments in May.
The case is likely to end up in the Supreme Court again, especially if the appeals court rules against mifepristone.