The pro-life movement has scored a major win that demonstrates the effectiveness of state and local action even in the face of deep-pocketed, woke national corporations.
In this case, conservative attorneys general and the pro-life constituents who support their actions have triumphed over Walgreens, the country’s second-largest pharmacy chain.
Walgreens is currently working to obtain certification to be able to sell abortion pills at its stores. But the company now says they won’t make those products available, either by mail or at their brick-and-mortar locations, in the states where attorneys general are threatening to sue if they do so.
In a statement to Politico, Walgreens confirmed that they have communicated to all the respective AG’s offices in those states and assured them they won’t be dispensing abortion pills.
This comes after nearly two dozen state attorneys general wrote a letter to the drug-store chain threatening legal action if they put the pills on the market.
The participating states were Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
This win is significant for the Republican attorneys general and for the pro-life movement, given that abortion pills have become the most popular abortion method in the country.
“There is currently complexity around this issue in Kansas and elsewhere,” Walgreens senior director of external relations Fraser Engerman told Politico.
The outlet further reported:
“In my letter to Walgreens, we made clear that Kansas will not hesitate to enforce the laws against mailing and dispensing abortion pills, including bringing a RICO action to enforce the federal law prohibiting the mailing of abortion pills,” Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said in a statement. “Evidently, Walgreens understood that my office was serious about this. I’m grateful that Walgreens responded quickly and reasonably and intends to comply with the relevant laws.”
The Biden administration moved in January to allow retail pharmacies to dispense the pills — part of a broader push to preserve and expand access to abortion as more states passed bans on the procedure. That decision followed a multiyear analysis by the FDA that found the pills were safe and effective to use without a doctor’s visit, a conclusion state attorneys general and anti-abortion groups are challenging in court.
Following the release of the FDA’s analysis, several chain pharmacies swiftly announced they would participate, but only in states that hadn’t banned or restricted access to the pills.
The Republican attorneys general who joined together in the Walgreens letter calling for it to not sell abortion pills also sent letters with the same threat of lawsuit to CVS, Albertsons, Rite Aid, Costco, Walmart, and Kroger.
And it isn’t just the attorneys general who have been active. Groups such as Students for Life and the Family Research Council have likewise written to CVS and Walgreens with threats of “legal ramifications for your pharmacy” if they obtain certification to dispense the pills.
In addition, many pro-life activists have organized protests outside these pharmacies.
“This response indicates that pro-life concerns are being heard and that corporations are not rushing to take over the abortion business but are proceeding cautiously,” Students for Life spokesperson Kristi Hamrick told Politico in reaction to the news of Walgreens’ decision.
State legislatures in red states have also been making strides in limiting abortion post Roe v. Wade.
In South Carolina last month, the Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted along party lines, 83-31, to ban abortion from the moment of conception. The vote took place a week after the South Carolina Senate passed a bill banning abortion after heart activity can be detected, which occurs around six weeks.
To become law, the two chambers must reconcile their proposals. While the two versions differ as to when protection of the unborn would begin, they both include exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies, and cases in which the pregnancy poses a danger to the life of the mother.
In Kentucky, the pro-life movement also had a win recently. Pro-abortion groups attempted to have the state Supreme Court block two abortion restrictions, but the high court last month shot these requests down.
However, the federal government under Biden is attempting to stem the tide of pro-life policy as much as it can. For example, in February the Department of Defense published its plans to cover the travel costs of service members who are either getting an abortion themselves or accompanying their wives who are.
Under the plan, troops will be given until up to 20 weeks into the pregnancy to provide their departments with notification and request abortion-related travel.
Guidance from the secretary of defense states that “the DoD health care provider will place the Service Member considering pregnancy termination in a medical temporary non-deployable status without reference to the Service Member’s pregnancy status, until appropriate medical care and the necessary recovery period are complete.”
The shifting situation, both within states and in the nation at large, shows that — despite the influence the abortion lobby wields — the fight can be won. But the pro-life movement must neither give up nor get too comfortable after any one victory.
