(Adds details from Politico report, background)
March 2 (Portal) – Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc will not distribute abortion pills in several US states where they are still legal, Politico reported on Thursday, citing the pharmacy.
Last month, 20 Republican attorneys general told Walgreens and CVS Health Corp that they could be breaking federal and state laws by distributing the abortion drug mifepristone through the mail.
Walgreens has assured them it will not drop off the pills in stores or through the mail, Politico said.
The pharmacy doesn’t sell the pills anywhere in the country but is working to get certification in some states, Politico reported, saying the company declined to say which states.
“This issue is very complex in Kansas and elsewhere right now,” Politico quoted Fraser Engerman, senior director of external relations at Walgreens.
Walgreens did not immediately respond to a Portal request for comment.
Medical abortion, which accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States, has attracted increasing attention since the Supreme Court issued a landmark Roe v. Wade’s 1973 ruling that recognized abortion as a constitutional right nationwide.
After the ruling, President Joe Biden directed federal agencies to expand access to medical abortion. (Reporting by Gokul Pisharody in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing)