Democratic AGs Send Letter in Support of Pharmacies’ Decision to Dispense Abortion Drugs After GOP AGs Say Move Is Illegal
- February 17, 2023
Twenty-three Democratic attorneys general (AGs) sent a letter February 16 to Walgreens and CVS expressing support for the pharmacies’ decision to dispense mifepristone and misoprostol, drugs used for medication abortions, in their stores.
CVS and Walgreens announced their intentions after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved in January to expand access to abortion pills with a regulatory change that allows certified retail pharmacies to sell the drug directly to patients.
On February 1, a coalition of 20 Republican AGs sent a letter to the pharmacies condemning the sale of the drugs.
According to the letter, “federal law expressly prohibits using the mail to send or receive any drug that will ‘be used or applied for producing abortion.’” And anyone who “knowingly takes any such thing from the mails for the purpose of circulating” is guilty of a federal crime, the letter said.
The letter also noted that many states have laws that “prohibit using the mail to send or receive abortion drugs” reflecting the states’ “commitment to protecting the lives and dignity of children, but also of women.”
According to the Democrats’ letter, however, the claim that such sales are illegal “is misguided and disregards over a century’s worth of legal precedent.”
Instead, the letter said that the companies’ decision to dispense mifepristone and misoprostol “is on solid legal footing” and “would enable millions of individuals to more easily access critical, and sometimes lifesaving, reproductive care.”