(NewsNation) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced the state will be cutting ties with Walgreens over the chain’s policy on mailing abortion drugs.
Last month, attorneys general in 20 states warned Walgreens and CVS they could face legal penalties if they dispense mifepristone, a pill that induces an abortion, by mail in those states. Last week, the company announced it would comply.
Mifepristone has become the latest front in the debate over access to reproductive health care. Ethan Bearman, adjunct professor at Loyola Law School, and political strategist Randan Steinhauser, of Steinhauser Strategies, joined NewsNation to discuss Newsom’s announcement.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone in 2000 to end pregnancy when used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol.
Typically, the FDA’s authority to regulate prescription drug access has gone unchallenged. But more than a dozen states now have laws restricting abortion broadly — and the pills specifically — following last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning the federal right to abortion.
“What we’re talking about from this governor is actually standing up for individual rights in this country against big government overreach from the right-wing states that have this false, pseudo-religious belief regarding the idea of when life begins, which has been rejected by every major religion other than the Catholic Church,” Bearman said.
Bearman said states and individuals have the right to choose not to do business with Walgreens if they don’t like the store’s policies. He noted many people have already stopped doing business with the company because it allows pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control if they have a moral opposition to it.
Walgreens has not said it would stop dispensing mifepristone in states that do allow it, including California.
“This conversation really needs to focus on what’s best for women would be getting crime under control in that state,” Steinhauser said, suggesting Newsom focus on other issues directly affecting Californians.
Newsom’s office hasn’t clarified exactly what it means for the state to stop doing business with Walgreens or how it might affect customers who fill their prescriptions at the drugstore.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.