If You Live In One Of These 20 States, Walgreens Will No Longer Provide Abortion Pills

Two months after the FDA expanded reproduction rights with their decision to allow certified pharmacies to carry Mifepristone, an abortion pill, Walgreens has decided not to sell them in 20 states. In a report first carried by Politico, the pharmacy chain states that they're attempting to get ahead of potential calls to ban the pills by anti-choice activists in conservative states.

Last month, 20 Republican state attorney generals wrote to Walgreens, claiming the retailer would be breaking both federal and state law by carrying Mifepristone. The letter was written by Andrew Bailey, the Attorney General of Missouri, and co-signed by almost two dozen other state officials. However, not every state represented in the letter has actually banned abortion.

After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion is legal in 13 states. Yet, attorney generals from states where it's legal — such as Iowa, Kansas, and Montana — were among the 20 that wrote to the retailer.

Although Walgreens has decided not to carry Mifepristone in 20 states, they still intend to make the pills available in the remaining 30 states. CVS, whom the 20 Republican state attorneys also wrote to, has plans to carry the abortion pills across the country. However, that plan has yet to take effect.

According to the FDA's requirements, pharmacies that carry Mifepristone must undergo a certification process to sell the pills. Once that has been completed, they can only sell it to someone who has a prescription from a certified prescriber. As one of the more popular methods used to terminate a pregnancy or miscarriage, increasing calls for abortion bans makes the future of Mifepristone accessibility uncertain.

First approved by the FDA in 2000, the pill is used to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks of gestation. Taken in conjunction with Misoprostol, the drug is also used to pass an early-term pregnancy loss.