A Walgreens pharmacy is pictured on Jan. 5 in New York City. Walgreens says it will not promote mifepristone in states the place Republican attorneys basic threatened authorized motion.

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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A Walgreens pharmacy is pictured on Jan. 5 in New York City. Walgreens says it will not promote mifepristone in states the place Republican attorneys basic threatened authorized motion.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Walgreens will not distribute abortion tablets in states the place Republican officers have threatened authorized motion — together with some locations the place abortion remains to be authorized and accessible. The pharmacy chain stated in an announcement to NPR on Friday that it is nonetheless taking steps to promote the drug in “jurisdictions where it is legal and operationally feasible.”

The affirmation got here a month after 20 Republican state attorneys basic, principally from states the place abortion is banned or closely restricted, sent letters threatening Walgreens and different pharmacies with authorized motion in the event that they disbursed mifepristone, an abortion capsule.

The Food and Drug Administration finalized a new rule in January permitting retail pharmacies to get licensed to distribute the drug, and corporations together with Walgreens and CVS stated they’re making use of for certification. Medication abortion — not surgical procedure — is the most common way that folks terminate pregnancies, particularly within the first trimester, when most abortions happen.

“At this time, we are working through the certification process” and never but distributing the drug wherever, Walgreens said in a letter to Kansas’ legal professional basic final month. “Walgreens does not intend to dispense Mifepristone within your state.”

The firm stated in an announcement to NPR that it has responded to the entire attorneys basic to guarantee them it will not distribute mifepristone of their states.

Mifepristone — which is also used to ease miscarriages — remains to be allowed in a few of the states the place Walgreens will not promote it, together with Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Montana. The state of affairs underscores how difficult it may be to acquire an abortion even in states the place it stays authorized.

The different pharmacy chains to which Republican attorneys basic despatched their letters — together with CVS, Costco, Walmart, Rite Aid, Albertsons and Kroger — didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s request for remark about whether or not they’re contemplating following go well with.

For greater than twenty years, solely specialty places of work and clinics might distribute mifepristone. An FDA determination in December 2021 completely allowed docs to prescribe mifepristone by way of telehealth appointments and ship the drug by the mail.

An ongoing case earlier than a Trump-appointed federal choose in Texas seeks to challenge the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone altogether.