Walgreens won't sell abortion pill by mail/stores in 20 states

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Greatly concerned about the denial of healthcare to young women today --

Walgreens says it won't sell a mifepristone by mail OR IN THEIR STORES in 20 conservative-led states after these states Attorney's General sent a letter stating it was illegal.  CVS and other pharmacies also received a letter from

  1. Missouri
  2. Alabama
  3. Alaska
  4. Arkansas
  5. Florida
  6. Georgia
  7. Indiana
  8. Iowa
  9. Kentucky
  10. Louisiana
  11. Mississippi
  12. Montana
  13. North Dakota
  14. Ohio
  15. Oklahoma
  16. South Carolina
  17. South Dakota
  18. Texas
  19. Utah
  20. West Virginia

 

NBC News 3/3/2022:

Walgreens will not sell abortion pills in 20 GOP-controlled states

Quote

Republican attorneys general in 20 states sent Walgreens a letter saying the company could face legal consequences if it distributed the medication.

"We emphasize that it is our responsibility as State Attorneys General to uphold the law and protect the health, safety, and well-being of women and unborn children in our states," stated a Feb. 1 letter signed by attorneys general in states where abortion is legal and illegal.

Walgreens said it responded to each attorney general and said it would not sell abortion pills — by mail or in their stores — in those states. Among them are states where abortion is illegal, like Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas and West Virginia.

But Walgreens also said it wouldn't sell the pills in states where abortion remains legal, like Alaska, Florida, Iowa and Montana.

"This is a very complex and in flux area of the law, and we are taking that into account as we seek certification to dispense Mifepristone," Fraser Engerman, Walgreens' senior director of external relations, said, referring to an abortion medication that can end a pregnancy at less than 10 weeks.

"We are not dispensing Mifepristone at this time. We intend to become a certified pharmacy under the program, however we will only dispense in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do if we are certified," Engerman added.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who signed the February letter, said in a facebook statement Wednesday that he wants to ensure "that pharmacies throughout the nation aren't subverting state and federal statute to ship abortion pills in the mail." ...

...Access to abortion pills is currently legal in some form in 37 states. Medication abortion is allowed in 22 states, but in 15 states must be prescribed by a doctor, not other clinicians, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

The group also sent letters to CVS, Rite Aid, Albertsons, Costco, Kroger and Walmart. Those companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Map: Where medication abortion is and isn't legal

ABC News 3/3/23: Walgreens won't sell abortion pill by mail in 20 states
 

Quote

 

...The FDA for more than 20 years limited dispensing of the drug to a subset of specialty offices and clinics because of safety concerns. But it eased restrictions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic by eliminating the in-person requirement for the pill and allowing brick-and-mortar pharmacies to dispense it. At least one lawsuit filed by abortion opponents argues that the FDA has overstepped its authority in approving the abortion drugs.

Engerman said the company is not currently dispensing mifepristone, although it is working to become eligible through an FDA-mandated certification process. That process requires pharmacies to meet specific standards in shipping, tracking and confidentially storing drug prescribing records. ...

 

 

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Specializes in Hospice.

I remember when the Dobbs decision first came down, many of us expressed deep concern that it was the beginnings of the complete rollback of reproductive rights. We were roundly pooh-poo'd and mocked for overreacting. And yet, here we are, as predicted.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

I can smell the freedom from here...

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

So much for the party of small government. 

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Specializes in Hospice.
nursej22 said:

So much for the party of small government. 

Given the probability of a vigorous black market, imagine the level of  law enforcement activity they'll need to keep the bootleggers, along with the pregnant women and girls, in check.

Between the illegal market, law enforcement and criminal Justice/corrections, there's a s**t ton of money to be made.  Remember Prohibition? Wouldn't it be fun to follow that money!

Grifters gonna grift ...

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

Will they start checking our luggage for those medications when we fly into those states? Authoritarians are so much fun... until they don't get their way when they think they should.

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Specializes in Home care/Travel.
toomuchbaloney said:

Will they start checking our luggage for those medications when we fly into those states? Authoritarians are so much fun... until they don't get their way when they think they should.

Yes. They will probably strip search you and bring in sniffer dogs too. For abortion pills! 

 

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Specializes in Hospice.

This is an example of the reason I tend to take so-called "far left" journalism more seriously. I've been reading for years about dominionism. I kept it on a mental back burner, waiting for more evidence. And here it is ...

Part of the scientific process is using data to form a tentative explanation for patterns observed in those data - aka a hypothesis. Then one ideally designs an experiment to test the hypothesis. Unfortunately, political patterns aren't amenable to laboratory experimentation, so the next-best thing is to try to predict events based on what has been observed so far. In this case, far-lefties predicted ongoing efforts to bring civil law into line with conservative Christian theology and practice. QED.

Stupid people are welcome to indulge in all the denial and mockery they like, but nobody is buying it.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
Roitrn said:

Yes. They will probably strip search you and bring in sniffer dogs too. For abortion pills! 

 

Do you doubt the extremes that authoritarians will push to achieve their agendas? Exposure to history helps to overcome and dispel the delusion that right wing authoritarians are bound by some common decency or reasonableness. I could recommend some good reading material.  

It is interesting that my tongue in cheek comment inspired you to respond in such a fashion.  LOL

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/06/abortion-pill-california-governor-newsom-says-state-won't-do-business-with-walgreens.html#

Quote

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said the state would no longer do business with Walgreens, after the drugstore chain told 21 Republican attorneys general that it would not sell the abortion pill in their states.

Newsom said on Twitter that the state is "done" doing business with Walgreens. Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for the governor, said California is reviewing all relationships between Walgreens and the state.

"We will not pursue business with companies that cave to right wing bullies pushing their extremist agenda or companies that put politics above the health of women and girls,” Richards said.

Wow. I wonder if this will hold up in court. 

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