When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced earlier this year that it would allow drugstore chains to sell mifepristone, the highly regulated first drug to be taken in a two-drug regimen for medication abortion, Walgreens and other pharmacy chains eagerly stepped up, saying that they would go through the required certification process.

But after attorneys general in 20 Republican-led states wrote an ominous letter to Walgreens’ executive vice president reminding her of abortion laws and questionably warning that it was illegal to ship abortion pills in the U.S., the company told several news outlets that it wouldn’t. sell in those states. The company received a similar letter from

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Kansas Atty. Gene. Kris Kobach and wrote back that it would not sell the drug

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in Kansas.

Walgreens has stressed in statements in recent days that once certified it would sell the abortion pills in states where it was legal.

But the retailer’s statements about the general public run counter to what he’s told those conservative states. Abortion, including medication abortion, is legal in half of the 21 states that wrote to Walgreens and later received assurances that the retailer would not sell in those states. And in most of those states where it’s legal, people are allowed to take abortion medication outside of a supplier’s office, meaning Walgreens can sell it in those states. In the rest of those states, abortion is prohibited with limited exceptions or, in one case, unavailable because there is no abortion clinic.

The one thing all 21 states have in common is elected officials hostile to abortion rights.

It would be understandable for Walgreens officials to issue a statement saying their hands are tied in the 10 states where abortion is banned. But instead the pharmacy chain succumbed to political pressure, and that is reprehensible.

No wonder California Governor Gavin Newsom exploded on Twitter Monday, declare California will not do business with Walgreens or any company that cringes at the extremists and endangers the lives of women. Were done. It’s still not clear whether the state of California is done with Walgreens, and what it could mean for government-subsidized prescriptions. The relationship is more complicated than Newsom’s statement suggests, but we certainly understand his frustration.

In a post-Roe era where states are trying to restrict abortion, including drug-induced abortion, which is more readily available than surgical abortion, it’s outrageous that a drugstore chain should be associated in any way with obstructing access. Abortion care is health care, and that should be Walgreens’ primary concern.

It also sets a dangerous example that could lead more people to try to bully companies into depriving people of their right to health care. In states where abortion is dangerous and under constant attack, chains like Walgreens are lifelines for pregnant people with limited means to travel to a clinic.

When Walgreens capitulated to Kobach’s letter warning the company not to mail mifepristone to Kansas, where access to abortion medication is under attack, and assured him it wouldn’t sell the drug in the state at all, the man chuckled. attorney general in a press release that Walgreen’s decision was a major victory for the pro-life cause and for women’s health. Medication abortion is extremely safe. This was nothing more than a political scare tactic and the fact that Walgreens fell for it is deeply troubling.

Shame on Walgreens executives who rewarded years of customer support with a cold shoulder just when they need help most. This spineless betrayal has already caused the company’s stock to plummet amid understandable calls for boycotts. Walgreens needs to change course, take back promises made to anti-abortion politicians and loudly affirm that the chain will indeed sell mifepristone in every state where abortion is legal.