California will not renew a $54 million contract with Walgreens in response to the company’s decision not to dispense an abortion drug in states where Republican officials have threatened legal action against them, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.
The decision, which Newsom previewed in a tweet Monday, comes as the governor and lawyers have taken broad measures in recent months to ensure abortion is available in California and to make the state a place where people from elsewhere can get the procedure following the June ruling by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“This is an attempt to call the question ‘Which side are you on? Whose side are you on? Newsom said in an interview with POLITICO ahead of the announcement. “Are you going to just cower in the face of bullies? Are you going to just roll over?”
Walgreens will no longer provide medications to inmates in California’s sprawling correctional system as a result of the decision. A planned renewal of the contract was scheduled to take effect May 1.
Newsom says this is just the first step in an “exhaustive review” of all of the state’s ties with Walgreens, some of which he may need to work with the state Legislature to terminate.
Walgreens has said it won’t offer mifepristone in 21 states where Republican attorneys general have threatened legal action against pharmacies that provide the medication. All of those states have either banned abortion or have proposed legislation or pending court challenges that would prohibit distribution.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Walgreens was premature in making its policy announcement even if the legal ground is uncertain in some states. “They should wait until a judge weighs in and not pull this life saving and critical medication from millions of people,” he said in a recent interview.
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