CVS, Walgreens to sell abortion pill in select states

Abortion pills to be sold at select CVS, Walgreens locations

Mifepristone: Progesterone blocker used to end pregnancy
Pill will be available at select CVS, Walgreens stores as soon as next week
Biden: "Important milestone" in ensuring access to the drug

Updated: Mar 1, 2024 / 11:49 AM CST

FILE – Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. The Supreme Court is being asked to reverse an appellate ruling that would cut off mail-order access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States. In an appeal filed Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, argued that federal judges should not second-guess the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug or the conditions under which it is dispensed. The Biden administration also was expected to file an appeal. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)

(NewsNation) — Walgreens and CVS pharmacies in select states will begin selling the abortion pill mifepristone as soon as next week, the companies announced Friday.

Both pharmacy chains completed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification process to dispense mifepristone, which is a drug that blocks the hormone progesterone needed for a pregnancy to continue. It is commonly used to end a pregnancy through ten weeks gestation, according to the FDA.

Walgreens announced the drug will only be available in select locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois.

“We are beginning a phased rollout in select locations to allow us to ensure quality, safety and privacy for our patients, providers and team members,” Walgreens said in a statement.

CVS will start dispensing mifepristone at pharmacies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Amy Thibault told NewsNation in a statement. A specific date was not mentioned, but Thibault said patients can expect the drug to be available “in the weeks ahead.”

“We’ve received certification to dispense mifepristone at CVS Pharmacy and plan to fill prescriptions for this medication in states where legally permissible. We’re working with manufacturers and suppliers to secure the medication and are not yet dispensing it in any of our pharmacies,” Thibault said in a statement.

President Joe Biden called the move an “important milestone” in ensuring access to the drug.

“With major retail pharmacy chains newly certified to dispense medication abortion, many women will soon have the option to pick up their prescription at a local, certified pharmacy—just as they would for any other medication. I encourage all pharmacies that want to pursue this option to seek certification,” the president said.

Both companies said they would not dispense the drug in states where abortion laws were unclear. However, CVS and Walgreens will continue to monitor changes in state laws in those states, the New York Times reported.

This comes at a time when abortion remains a major issue in politics, policy and U.S. courts. The abortion landscape has been in flux since the June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, which touched off a round of abortion policy changes and new litigation around the procedure.

There are still looming ballot questions and court decisions. And lawmakers could tweak current abortion laws.

New data from the Society of Family Planning revealed the number of abortions occurring nationally each month remained about the same as in the months before the Supreme Court overruled the federal right to an abortion in 2022.

While the national monthly average remained consistent, the report tracked a significant discrepancy between states with abortion bans and those without. Guttmacher Institute found that by 2021, more than half (53%) of abortions in the country were medication abortions.

The Associated Press and The Hill contributed to this report.