Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.), along with U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT.), sent a letter to Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer, expressing concern regarding recent reports that the company would not dispense medication abortion – even when legal.
“As of March 2023, at least 17 states have eliminated all or some access to abortion, with additional states expected to implement new bans this year,” wrote the lawmakers. “These measures endanger millions of Americans and limit access to other essential health care services, such as care for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and other complications, in addition to banning or limiting abortion care.”
Early this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permanently removed the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in medication abortion, and announced that it would allow certified pharmacies to dispense the medication. Following that announcement, Walgreens, as well as other pharmacies, announced that they intended to complete the certification process to dispense mifepristone.
In February of this year, a group of Republican Attorneys General sent a letter – littered with inaccuracies – to Walgreens and CVS in an attempt to intimidate the pharmacies into walking back their commitment to dispense mifepristone in their states. In response, last week, reports indicated that Walgreens would not distribute the medication in those states, including several , such as Kansas, Montana, Iowa, and Alaska, where abortion – including medication abortion – remain legal.
“Given this ongoing attack on access to abortion care, we had grave concerns about reports that Walgreens had decided not to dispense medication abortion in states where it remains legal, viewing it as yet another limit on access to crucial care,” wrote the lawmakers. “Such action would have been a disservice to your patients, and inconsistent with Walgreens’s purpose, ‘to champion the health and well-being of every community in America.’”
In the letter, the lawmakers highlight the decades of evidence proving the safety and efficacy of mifepristone and argue that this decision would not only be inconsistent with Walgreens’s mission “to champion the health and well-being of every community in America,” but also a betrayal of the company’s customers.
On Monday, Walgreens released a new statement appearing to reverse its decision to unjustly deny patients access to mifepristone. “Each day, women’s lives are threatened because they are denied access to essential health care,” wrote the Senators, “and we are hopeful that Walgreens’s latest statement on this matter means the company will not engage in such a denial. To clarify your current policies and your ‘commitment to the communities in which (you) operate,’ we ask that you provide answers to the following questions no later than March 14, 2023.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.