By Dave Andrusko
According to a story in yesterday’s POLITICO, Walgreen’s– the nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain— “confirmed Thursday that it will not dispense abortion pills in several states where they remain legal — acting out of an abundance of caution amid a shifting policy landscape, threats from state officials and pressure from anti-abortion activists.”
Indeed!
“Thanks to the large public outcry and the actions of some of these principled state attorneys generals, Walgreens and some of these other drugstore chains may finally be coming to understand that they can’t rely upon the abortion industry and the Biden’s administration’s assurances of this drug’s safety and legality,” said Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, director of Education & Research. “The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs means that states which wish to protect unborn children and their mothers from this deadly drug should now be able to do so.
As NRL News Today reported last month, attorneys general in 20 states warned CVS and Walgreens against mailing abortion pills in their states.
In a letter sent to the two largest drugstore chains, they said, “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.” They added “Part of that responsibility includes ensuring that companies like yours are fully informed of the law so that harm does not come to our citizens.”
Walgreens “told POLITICO that it has since responded to all the officials, assuring them that they will not dispense abortion pills either by mail or at their brick-and-mortar locations in those states,” Alice Miranda Ollstein reported.
One of those attorneys general was Kansas’s Kris Kobach. On February 6, he wrote, saying that the Biden administration’s attempt to make abortion pills available through the mail was clearly illegal.
“President Biden is beholden to the country’s most extreme pro-abortion voices, who consistently advocate for expanding the abortion regime without any consideration of legality or even women’s safety,” the letter to Danielle Gray, Walgreens Executive Vice President, reads. “But nothing requires you to join him. The law says what it says. I encourage you to follow it.”
In a statement to POLITICO, Kobach wrote
“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. …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.”