California cancels $54 million Walgreens contract over abortion pill fight

Making good on a threat, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that California will cancel a $54 million contract with Walgreens as punishment for the pharmacy’s decision not to distribute abortion pills in states where attorneys general have warned it would be illegal.

Newsom posted on social media Monday that California “won’t be doing business with Walgreens — or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk” after the company indicated last week that it would not dispense abortion pills in at least 20 states where attorneys general threatened legal action.

But Newsom didn’t elaborate and his office at the time could not say what exactly that would mean.

On Wednesday, the governor’s office said the state won’t renew a contract between Walgreens and the California Department of General Services that provides “specialty pharmacy prescription drugs” mostly used by the state’s correctional health care system.

The state has paid Walgreens $54 million under the contract that was set for renewal May 1 but will be canceled as part of an ongoing “review of all contracts between the state and Walgreens,” Newsom’s office said. Newsom said the state will “will explore other options for furnishing the same services.”

“California will not stand by as corporations cave to extremists and cut off critical access to reproductive care and freedom,” Newsom said in a statement. “California is on track to be the fourth largest economy in the world and we will leverage our market power to defend the right to choose.”

At issue is mifepristone, part of a two-drug cocktail that has been prescribed for early-term abortions in the U.S. since the Food and Drug Administration approved its use in 2000. It is used in more than half of U.S. abortions.

The Biden administration has sought to make the drug more available since the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned the Roe v. Wade decision 50 years ago that established a right to abortion. Though traditionally only available in person through doctors for safety reasons, the FDA this year expanded rules to let retail pharmacies dispense the pills after completing a certification process, which would make them available not only at the pharmacies but online by mail. Walgreens was among pharmacies going through that process.

But after receiving a letter last month signed by attorneys general in 20 states pointing out that it is against federal law to send abortion drugs through the mail, Walgreens said in response it would not dispense the pills in those states, and Newsom cited news of that decision in his comment Monday.

Walgreens had no immediate response to Newsom’s announcement Wednesday. In a statement Monday, the Illinois-based pharmacy said “we want to be very clear about what our position has always been: Walgreens plans to dispense Mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so. Once we are certified by the FDA, we will dispense this medication consistent with federal and state laws.”

Abortion foes have criticized Newsom — often mentioned as a potential presidential Democratic presidential candidate should Joe Biden bow out of his re-election bid — for going after Walgreens.

“Gavin Newsom’s attempt to bully Walgreens into providing abortion drugs in jurisdictions where it might be illegal highlights his prioritization of delivering dead children over live ones,” said Mary Rose Short, director of California Right to Life.

“In California, Newsom has championed laws that force businesses to fund and facilitate abortion,” Short said. “Now he is attempting to bludgeon a business into violating states’ laws that prohibit abortion and protect unborn children and their mothers. Newsom expects the pharmacy to provide abortion drugs even where it is illegal, where there is no demand for the regimen, and where there are no pharmacists willing to fill the lethal prescription.”

Abortion rights supporters have criticized Walgreens over last week’s decision and applauded Newsom for punishing the pharmacy over it. Abortion rights are popular in California, where Newsom last year pushed a ballot measure, Proposition 1, approved by two out of three voters that amended the state constitution to prohibit interference with abortion rights.

“We think being a reproductive freedom state means holding the line for reproductive freedom no matter where people call home,” said Shannon Olivieri Hovis, director of NARAL Pro Choice California. “Governor Newsom is doing just that. What he’s doing in this moment is what the national landscape requires of him. He’s stepping up and being a national leader.”

The FDA initially approved mifepristone in 2000 through seven weeks of gestation, then extended that in 2016 to 10 weeks. The agency says the drug is “safe when used as indicated” and was approved after “a thorough and comprehensive review of the scientific evidence.” The FDA said that there have been 28 reports of deaths in patients associated with mifepristone since it was approved.

The Feb. 1 warning letter to Walgreens was signed by attorneys general in 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. The attorney general in Kansas sent a similar letter separately. They argued that federal and many state laws prohibit using the mail to distribute abortion drugs, and questioned the legality of making them available outside a doctor’s office.

Newsom noted Wednesday that in some of the states where the attorneys general threatened legal action, abortion remains legal. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, Alaska, Florida, Kansas and Montana all have state constitutional rights to abortion.

Other national pharmacies have been cautious not to get caught up in the abortion debate. In a statement this week, Rite Aid said it “is monitoring the latest federal, state, legal and regulatory developments regarding mifepristone dispensing and we will continue to evaluate the company’s ability to dispense mifepristone in accordance with those developments.”

CVS, which also received a warning letter from the attorneys general, has not commented.