Gov. Cooper, other Democratic governors ask pharmacies to clarify abortion pill plans
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Gov. Roy Cooper and several other Democratic governors asked the largest retail pharmacy chains on Tuesday to share more details about how they will dispense abortion pills in their states.
Two months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed retail pharmacies to sell mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortion, confusion still mounts over where the companies will and won’t sell the pills.
Major retail pharmacies are evaluating a patchwork of state abortion laws, including North Carolina’s, to decide where it is legal to dispense the medication.
The letter stands in stark contrast to one sent by Republican governors earlier this month that threatened legal action if Walgreens sold mifepristone in their states. Shortly after, Walgreens announced it would not sell mifepristone in those 20 states, which did not include North Carolina.
In the letter sent Tuesday, the Democrats called the Republicans’ note a “threat to the rights of Americans to access basic health care.” They asked the pharmacy giants, including Walgreens, CVS and Walmart, to base their decisions on medical evidence and “not politics or litigation threats.”
“Governor Cooper thinks it’s important that women’s health care be accessible and timely,” said Sam Chan, a spokesperson for the governor. “Our office will continue working with retail pharmacies as their plans are developed on this important issue.”
It is still not clear whether Walgreens or other retail pharmacies plan to sell abortion pills in North Carolina. A provision in a state abortion laws requires that a doctor be in the room when a patient takes the first abortion pill, making it logistically complicated for a pharmacy to dispense it.
Jay Campbell, the executive director of the NC Pharmacy board, said the state law doesn’t prevent pharmacies from becoming certified to dispense mifepristone. But it’s unclear whether the law would require patients to go back to their doctor’s office to be observed while taking the pill.
“Walgreens plans to dispense Mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so,” a spokesperson for the pharmacy chain said in a statement. “Once we are certified by the FDA, we will dispense this medication consistent with federal and state laws.”
A spokesperson for CVS, another major retail pharmacy chain in North Carolina, said CVS plans to sell the medication in states that “do not restrict the dispensing” of abortion pills. As of late February, CVS did not have new information about which states would be included on that list, a spokesperson told the N&O.
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Teddy Rosenbluth covers science and health care for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
