LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Walgreens won't distribute abortion medication in 20 states, including Kentucky and Indiana.
The pharmacy chain is feeling the pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers and lawsuits targeting the legality of abortion pills.
The company said it will not dispense the drug mifepristone, the first of two drugs in the medication abortion process, by mail.Â
The decision follows a Feb. 1 letter from GOP attorneys general in 20 states that warned Walgreens and CVS that they could face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills by mail in those states.
A Walgreens spokesperson confirmed to the Associated Press that the company sent a response to each of the attorneys general saying that it will not dispense the drug in their states, and "will dispense only in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do so if we are certified."
Nineteen states have imposed restrictions on abortion pills, but there's a court battle over whether they have the power to do so in defiance of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy.Â
The FDA for more than 20 years limited dispensing of the drug to a subset of specialty offices and clinics because of safety concerns. But it eased restrictions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic by eliminating the in-person requirement for the pill and allowing brick-and-mortar pharmacies to dispense it.Â
The FDA had previously said that pharmacies that become certified to dispense mifepristone can do so directly to someone who has a prescription from a certified prescriber.Â
At least one lawsuit filed by abortion opponents argues that the FDA overstepped its authority in approving the abortion drugs.
Medication abortion now accounts for a majority of abortions obtained in the United States following the Supreme Court's decision last summer overturning Roe. v. Wade.
A federal judge in Texas is expected to rule any day on a lawsuit seeking to block the use of medication abortion nationwide, the biggest abortion-related case since the Supreme Court's decision, CNN reported. The lawsuit, filed in November by anti-abortion advocates against the FDA, targets the agency's two-decade-old approval of mifepristone.Â
Abortion rights advocates have sounded the alarm on the case, stressing that a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would affect every corner of the country since the lawsuit targets a federal agency.
It is unclear whether CVS has responded to the Feb. 1 letter from GOP attorneys general in 20 states.
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
