Rowan Jones – Contributing Writer

rej5214@psu.edu

Since the overturning of Roe v Wade in June of 2022, twelve states have issued total bans on abortions while many others have implemented new restrictions. Restrictions have been placed on the drug mifepristone, a prescription drug that can be used to trigger a miscarriage and can be taken up to seventy days into the pregnancy. 

The ‘abortion pill’ as it is better known, has been under fire recently after the Biden Administration allowed for it to be dispensed at pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS. Walgreens has decided to not distribute the drug in twenty states due to public pressure,  regardless of the state’s policies on abortions. 

California was a state that was affected by Walgreens decisions to not sell the abortion pill in every state where it was still legal to do so, which then led to California ending their $54 million dollar contract with Walgreens. The contract was originally put in place so California could obtain specialty medication for its correctional healthcare and rehabilitation systems.

 California Governor Gavin Newson stated that, “California will not stand by as corporations cave to extremists and cut off critical access to reproductive care and freedom.” California has minimal restrictions on abortions. and also allows people under the age of 18 to consent to an abortion without parental approval. 

Walgreens Representative Fraser Engerman, put out a statement after California’s decision to not renew the contract that read “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.” 

The certification needed by Walgreens he was referencing would allow for the pharmacy to distribute the drug by mail. Several Republican Attorneys have come forward and warned the pharmacy that it would be illegal to sell mifepristone via the postal system before they received the certification from the FDA, otherwise known as the Federal Drug Administration.

 Abortions through medications account for over half of the abortions performed in the United States, and we are currently, in the wake of Roe being overturned, in an era where the law surrounding miscarriage  inducing medications is hazy in some states. It will be interesting to see if California suspending Walgreens contracts forces the company to reconsider its position on offering the drug in their state.