California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday said his state won't do business with the nation's second largest pharmacy chain in the wake of its decision not to sell mifepristone in certain states.
"California won't be doing business with @walgreens — or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk. We're done," Newsom tweeted.
In a statement to The Hill, Newsom's office did not give any additional details about what his pronouncement would mean and how it would impact the public.
"California is reviewing all relationships between Walgreens and the state. We will not pursue business with companies that cave to right wing bullies pushing their extremist agenda or companies that put politics above the health of women and girls," a spokesperson for Newsom said.
At the same time, at least two Senate Democrats wrote to Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer calling on the company to change course.
In a letter sent Friday, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) asked for assurances that mifepristone will be available in states where it's legally permissible to dispense the drug.
"While abortion remains legal in Nevada, instability in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion has sowed tremendous confusion from state to state. Walgreens' move to deny access to these important drugs in states where abortion remains legal further erodes protections of reproductive rights," Cortez Masto wrote.
Sen. Richard Blumethal (D-Conn.) accused the company of caving to "bullying and intimidation by hard right ideologue."
"This blanket decision is an abdication of your company's responsibility as a health care provider," Blumenthal said in the letter.
How did we get here? Last month, 20 GOP state attorneys general warned in a letter of legal consequences if the company started distributing the drug.
A Walgreens spokesman said the company has responded to each attorney general who signed the letter, telling them the company will not dispense mifepristone — a medication used to end pregnancy — in its brick-and-mortar pharmacies and will not mail it to those states.
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