Since it merged with New York’s Duane Reade more than a decade ago, Walgreens has been my family’s go-to for Halloween candy, vacation sunscreen, trashy magazines, and most importantly, our prescription medication. And while it may be a massive national chain, Walgreens feels decidedly local thanks to our pharmacist, who’s been in my life for nearly 15 years.
But now, Walgreens is the latest casualty — or coward, depending on who you ask — in a showdown between anti-abortion states and the federal Food and Drug Administration, which approved the key drug used in medication abortion more than 20 years ago. And as a result, Walgreens is caught in a vise of sorts that its leadership, often heralded for its diversity and innovation, neither wanted nor expected. Even worse, its legal and business dilemma potentially could have been avoided.
Walgreens is caught in a vise of sorts that its leadership, often heralded for its diversity and innovation, neither wanted nor expected.
How exactly did this happen? Let’s go back to January, when the FDA changed its regulations so that retail pharmacies could sell mifepristone, one of two drugs that comprise abortion pills, as long as it completed a certification process. Within days, Walgreens and CVS, the nation’s two largest retail pharmacies, pledged they would participate. Walgreens, in particular, told CNBC it was “working through the registration and training of its pharmacists to dispense mifepristone consistent with federal and state law.”
It’s hard to understate how significant that decision was, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning the federal constitutional right to abortion. CVS asserts around 85% of Americans live within 10 miles of one of their pharmacies; Walgreens estimates 78% of Americans live within 5 miles of one of their stores. Walgreens’ and CVS’ sales of abortion pills, therefore, could be transformative for American women and girls. Many states have…
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