Democrats press Walmart, Costco, Kroger on mifepristone

Representatives called Democrats on Thursday Walmart , CostcoAnd hookand Safeway and Health Mart publicly committed to selling the prescription abortion pill mifepristone in their retail pharmacies.

Pending lawsuits have jeopardized the approval of mifepristone in the United States, which is currently the most popular method for terminating pregnancy in the country.

The five companies have been silent for months on whether they will receive certification to sell mifepristone under the Food and Drug Administration’s program that monitors how the drug is distributed and used by patients.

“It is inconceivable that five of the nation’s largest retail pharmacies would refuse to announce whether they will be certified to provide essential, FDA-approved, legal medical abortion healthcare to Americans,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, vice president of New York State. In a statement Thursday.

Goldman and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., sent A.J letter It requires company chief executives to confirm by June 23 whether their pharmacies will be certified to sell abortion pills.

More than 50 other Democratic lawmakers signed the letter.

“Your continued silence is unacceptable because it is inconsistent with your stated values ​​in support of equal access to health care and gender equality,” the lawmakers told the executives in the letter.

Democratic governors and senators asked the companies in March if their pharmacies would have a license to distribute the drug. The companies have not taken a public position on the issue.

The largest retail pharmacies in the United States have found themselves increasingly caught up in the national battle over abortion access, initiated 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 protecting access to the procedure as Right under the US Constitution.

As conservative states implemented abortion bans after Roe’s fall, the Food and Drug Administration in January sought to expand access to mifepristone by first allowing retail pharmacies to dispense the drug if they received certification.

The agency also permanently allowed women to receive birth control pills by mail.

CVS And WalgreensThe two largest pharmacy chains in the United States said shortly after the FDA’s decision that they would obtain certification to sell mifepristone where it would be legal to dispense the drug.

The companies quickly faced a backlash from Republican state attorneys general, who feared that easy access to mifepristone, especially by mail, would undermine their states’ restrictive abortion laws or outright bans.

The GOP attorney general has warned the CEOs of CVS and Walgreens that they will take legal action if the companies sell birth control pills in their states. Walgreens assured attorneys general that the company will not sell mifepristone in their states.

Walgren was then attacked by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The liberal governor refused to renew the state’s 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.

A group of doctors who oppose abortion sued the Food and Drug Administration last November to withdraw mifepristone from the US market entirely.

U.S. Judge Matthew Kacsmarek in the Northern District of Texas ruled in favor of anti-abortion doctors in April and suspended the FDA approval. The Supreme Court intervened in the case and preserved the right to mifepristone as litigation proceeded.

A three-judge panel of the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals now has the case and can rule at any time. Appeals court judges seemed skeptical of the DOJ’s defense of mifepristone during oral arguments in May.

The case is likely to end up in the Supreme Court again, particularly if the Court of Appeal rules against mifepristone.