On Thursday, March 2 Walgreens released a statement declaring that it would no longer sell abortion pills in red states where abortion access has been restricted following 20 Republican state attorneys threatening the company with legal action. 

  The drug under fire, Mifepristone, was recently allowed to be sold by certified pharmacies due to the finalization of rule passed by the FDA. This drug, which is one of the most popular ways to terminate a pregnancy as well as ease symptoms of a miscarriage, is widely used by women across the United States.

  This decision to not sell the drug extends to some states where abortion remains legal, such as Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, and Montana, thus making it difficult for women in these states to get an abortion. With tensions rising over the abortion debate in recent years, some have called for an outright boycott of the company with many women across the United States pledging to only buy from CVS, the pharmaceutical company’s biggest competitor.

  In California, despite Governor Newsom announcing last month that the state was done doing business with the pharmacy in order to protest the decision, it has come to light that the state’s Medicaid program will continue to pay the pharmaceutical giant about 1.5 billion dollars a year. Newsom ordered his administration to not renew the state’s approximately 54 million dollar contract with the company, however federal law prevented this and those who opposed this move argued that patients had the right to fill their prescriptions from any licensed pharmacy.

  This move has led to outrage among the public and renewed many of the calls to boycott Walgreens while others push back against the California legislature for continuing to work with the company.