A few weeks after Republican attorneys general in 21 states sent letters threatening legal action against retail pharmacy chains if they dispensed the abortion pill mifepristone, Walgreens said it would not distribute the pill in those states.
In January, after the Food and Drug Administration said it would allow retail pharmacies to become certified to dispense mifepristone, the tightly regulated drug that is the first pill in the two-drug medical abortion regimen, Walgreens, CVS and other pharmacies said they planned to do so in states where abortion is legal. The American Pharmacists Association said pharmacies would be very cautious about dispensing in any state where they might risk losing their license or facing other penalties.
Walgreens’ decision this week reflects that caution. In four of the states—Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, and Montana—abortion is still technically legal, but there are efforts to restrict it that would apply to abortion pills.
“This is a very complex and changing area of the law, and we are taking that into account when seeking certification,” said a Walgreens spokesman, Fraser Engerman.
