California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday canceled a $54 million contract with Walgreens after the pharmaceutical giant would no longer sell abortion pills by mail in several conservative-led states.
Newsom on Wednesday ordered state officials not to renew a contract with Walgreens to buy specialty pharmacy prescription drugs for California’s prison health care system, including antiviral and antifungal drugs and drugs used for congestive heart failure. Walgreens earned $54 million from the contract, which expires on April 30.
Newsom’s office said the state will buy the drug elsewhere.
“California will not stop serving as a den for extremists and removing critical access to care and reproductive freedom,” Newsom said in a press release. “California will be the fourth largest economy in the world and we will use market power to defend the right to vote.”
A representative from Walgreens, based in the north Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Ill., did not respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment. But earlier this week, the company said in a statement that it plans to release the drug, called mifepristone, “in any jurisdiction where it is legally permitted.”
“Providing legally approved medicines to patients is what our pharmacy does, and is based on our commitment to the communities in which we serve,” according to a statement posted to the company’s website.
Mifepristone is a pill that when combined with other pills will end pregnancy. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the pill in 2000 for use up to the 10th week of pregnancy. Today, more than half of all abortions in the U.S. are performed with the pill, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.
After the US Supreme Court last year overturned the federal right to abortion, more than a dozen states have restricted the use of the abortion pill. But the ban was challenged in court.
Attorneys general in 20 states, mostly with Republican governors, have warned Walgreens and CVS that they could face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills in their states. Last week, Walgreens confirmed it had sent a response to each attorney general saying it would not release the drug in their state.
Newsom responded to the news on Monday, posting in a message on Twitter that California will not do business with Walgreens “or any company that fears extremists and puts women’s lives at risk.”
“We’re done,” Newsom said.
The breakdown of the California contract will have little impact on Walgreens’ profits, as the company reported $132.7 billion in sales for the fiscal year that ended August 31.
But for Newsom, the move is more about strengthening California’s role as a leader in what he calls “reproductive freedom.”
Newsom vowed to make California a sanctuary for people in other states where abortion is illegal or severely restricted. Last year, Newsom signed more than a dozen new laws aimed at protecting abortion rights, including signing $20 million in new spending to help pay for travel and accommodation costs for people who come to California from other states for abortions.
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