California says it won't renew $54M contract with Walgreens amid calls for boycott over abortion pill policy

• Last month, 20 Republican attorneys general told Walgreens it could face legal action if it sold abortion pills in some states.
• Walgreens told Politico it will not sell the pills in those states, which includes some where abortion is legal.
• California said it will not renew a $54 million contract with the pharmacy as a result of the announcement.

California will not renew a multi-million dollar contract with Walgreens that expires next month over the pharmacy's decision not to sell abortion pills in certain states, including some in which the pills are still legal.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that the state will no longer work with Walgreens, and will find another pharmacy to provide certain prescription drugs to the state's prison system after the contract expires at the end of next month. The state has paid Walgreens about $54 million over the course of the contract, according to Newsom's statement.

"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."

Newsom tweeted a similar message earlier this week, and his office told Insider that the governor called for a review of the state's agreements with Walgreens.

A spokesperson for Walgreens told Insider via email that the company is disappointed in California's decision, and said the decision was made based on "false and misleading information."

"Walgreens is facing the same circumstances as all retail pharmacies, and no other pharmacies have said that they would approach this situation differently, so it's unclear where this contract would now be moved," the spokesperson told Insider. Our position has always been that, once we are certified by the FDA, Walgreens plans to dispense Mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so, including the state of California. We will dispense this medication consistent with federal and state laws. Providing legally approved medications to patients is what pharmacies do, and is rooted in our commitment to the communities in which we operate." 

The phrases "Walgreens" and "#BoycottWalgreens" each trended on Twitter last Thursday night into Friday morning as discussion ensued and some users vowed to stop supporting the chain.

The decision, first reported by Politico last Thursday, comes after 20 Republican attorneys general last month wrote to Walgreens and several other pharmacies including CVS, Walmart, and Costco to point out laws that could be violated if the companies provided abortion pills through the mail.

A Walgreens spokesperson told Insider in a statement last week that it has responded to the states represented by the 20 AGs, and confirmed it will not distribute the abortion pill Mifepristone in any of those states. That group includes Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, and Montana, where the procedure and medications for abortions are largely still legal, Politico reported.

The FDA announced in January that retail pharmacies would be allowed to distribute the pills to those with a prescription; the pills previously were only accessible through doctors or mail-order pharmacies. At the time, Walgreens told Insider that it was working to become FDA-certified to sell abortion pills in the states where they are legal.

While the company wrote to the 20 attorneys general that it would not dispense the pills in their states, it has still not publicly confirmed which states the pills may be available in or whether that list is affected by the policy confirmed Thursday.

Some Twitter users voiced their support of the decision from Walgreens, but several high-profile commentators and Democrats voiced their displeasure with the policy.

"Women across the nation will be denied their right to access healthcare they are legally entitled to because of this awful corporate decision," Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, the highest level elected official in the state where Walgreens is headquartered, tweeted. "@Walgreens must rethink this policy. To all the other pharmacy providers, we'll stand with you so you can provide this lifesaving care."

Ron Klain, a longtime aide to President Joe Biden who left his White House role as Biden's chief of staff earlier this year, cited Walgreen's slogan in his response: "Their slogan is 'Trusted since 1901' -- but if @Walgreens won't fill prescriptions for lawful, needed medicines, where is the "trust" in that?"

"Absolutely awful. This willful corporate choice will prevent so many women from choosing the healthcare they need and have a legal right to," Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois, tweeted. "@Walgreens should reverse course—immediately."

Responses to Politico's Alice Miranda Ollstein's original tweet announcing the news also are filled with hundreds of users saying they will "no longer be spending any money at Walgreens" or promising to "never step foot in a Walgreens again."

Mifepristone is currently the subject of multiple lawsuits, with a Texas judge expected to deliver a ruling in the coming weeks on a challenge from Republican attorneys general looking to overturn the FDA's decades-old approval of the pill. Several Democratic attorneys general filed an argument in the case last month that said banning the pill would lead to an "unprecedented spike" in maternal mortality.