Blumenthal to Pharmacies: Provide Your Patients With Access to Mifepristone

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on pharmacies across the country to provide their patients with access to mifepristone, a safe and common abortion and miscarriage management medication that is legal in every state. The letters come after Walgreens’ announcement on Friday that they will not sell mifepristone in 21 states after threats of legal action from those states’ Republican attorneys general.

Blumenthal said Walgreens has, “capitulated to Republican attorneys general,” and urged pharmacies to, “not back down – legally or morally – in providing your patients with access to mifepristone, a drug that is legal in every state and is prescribed for use independent of abortion.”

The threat from Republican attorneys general comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s January announcement that it would allow pharmacies to offer mifepristone – which has been FDA-approved and safely used for over two decades – to be dispensed both in store and through mail, a move that Blumenthal said would, “expand access to the most common form of abortion care for millions of people throughout the country.” 

Despite this step in the right direction, Blumenthal said the threat by Republicans was a move to, “bully and intimidate pharmacies into denying their patients the right to access the medication they need and are entitled to receive.” 

“During this moment of crisis for access to reproductive rights, health care providers such as your company should be using every tool at its disposal to assure everyone access to care no matter where they live,” Blumenthal concluded.

The letters were sent to Albertsons, Costco, CVS, Kroger, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart. 

Video from a press conference hosted by Blumenthal this morning can be found here.

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