As you are likely aware, the FDA recently allowed chemical abortion drugs to be sold through certified pharmacies. Prior to this rule change, abortion drugs could only be obtained directly from an abortionist. Walgreens and CVS are currently seeking certification to sell abortion drugs in stores and through the mail.
In response, attorneys general from 20 states sent a letter to Walgreens and CVS announcing that they will prosecute pharmacies that dispense abortion drugs by mail. The federal Comstock Act prohibits mailing any “article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion.” 18 U.S.C. § 1461
The AG’ letter cites state laws that prohibit distributing abortion drugs through the mail, which “reflect not only our commitment to protecting the lives and dignity of children, but also of women.” The letter notes that “Abortion pills are far riskier than surgical abortions” and that mail-order abortion drugs “invite the horror of an increase in coerced abortions.”
The Biden Administration has said it will not enforce the Comstock Act as applied to abortion drugs. In what the AG’s call a “bizarre interpretation” of the Comstock Act, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Christopher Schroeder issued guidance to the U.S. Postal Service insisting that it is still legal to send abortion drugs by mail, even in states where abortion is prohibited.
Nevertheless, this week Walgreens announced that it will not sell or mail abortion drugs in the 20 states that promised to prosecute pharmacies that violate the Comstock Act.
Yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that California will no longer do business with Walgreens or “any company that cowers to the extremists.”
By extremists, Newsom means people like you and me who want duly enacted state laws restricting abortion to be enforced. People who want to protect the right to life and who believe women and children should be spared the barbarity of abortion.
Once again, Newsom demonstrates his allegiance to the abortion cartel by demanding that businesses violate other states’ laws. This unconstitutional infringement on interstate commerce reflects the Governor’s complete disregard for the rule of law.
Make no mistake about it. Big abortion is a multi-billion-dollar totalitarian apparatus that will not abide dissenters. Period.
Life Legal has filed several lawsuits against California’s pro-death regime, including a challenge to a new law that discriminates against women who choose to carry their babies to term instead of killing them.