Walgreens backs down when confronted by Gavin Newsome on abortion medication

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Link to tweet

[LostOne4Ever]

1. It is one thing to say it

An another to do it.

Nothing bureaucracy and corporations loves better than non performative actions like writing a letter saying they will do something and then doing nothing.

[drmeow]

33. My first thought was

I hope CA plans to monitor them!

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

2. good

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. California to cut ties with Walgreens over abortion pill sales, Newsom says

This threat may have worked

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/03/06/walgreens-california-abortion-pills-newsom/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_source=twitter

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Monday that the state will not do business with pharmacy chain Walgreens after its recent announcement that it will not distribute abortion pills in some states where abortion is legal.

“California won’t be doing business with @walgreens — or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk,” Newsom said in a tweet.

Link to tweet

......However, a March 6 statement from Walgreens is at odds with that correspondence to GOP leaders. In it, the company specifies that it “plans to dispense Mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so.”

“Once we are certified by the FDA, we will dispense this medication consistent with federal and state laws,” the statement said, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The chain currently does not sell mifepristone anywhere as it is still seeking certification.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Too late, Walgreens. Your colors are right there in your logo

[BigmanPigman]

5. Perfect!

I hope everyone boycotts them. Fuck Walgreens. I hope that their stock crumbles.

[StoolPigeon]

10. Damn, I can't boycott them over this.

I stopped going there a few years ago.

[BigmanPigman]

16. I was going there since my CVS pharmacy

has such an extreme staff shortage that I was on hold for one hour and 50 minutes last week when I finally switched to the general phone number and spoke to the general manager who says corporate is reducing staff, I know it wasn't his fault and told him so. After being on hold and still unable to refill my prescriptions I drove over in the rain and dark and still had to wait over 1/2 hour. I contemplated switching to a Walgreens around the corner but after reading about their company today I guess I am stuck with CVS's shitty wait times. How is this convenient? How can any company run this way in 2023?!?

[okaawhatever]

30. Try Costco if there's one near you. U don't need to be a member to

use pharmacy. Their prices are usually lower than anywhere else, and they treat their employees exceptionally well.

[area51]

31. I hear you.

Afaik, both CVS & Walgreens cut staff/cut pharmacy hours. Is it possible for you to get your meds via a grocery store pharmacy? If not, and you need to call about a prescription, it might help to call the pharmacy soon after they open. I've had some success with that.

[BigmanPigman]

35. Thanks!

I had Kaiser but you have to go to their pharmacies (far away)and wait forever so CVS was a step up since they were close by and open 24 hours. I will check out my supermarket.

[StoolPigeon]

36. I use my grocery store.

I'm right there anyhow and for most medication I only pay a $10 copay for a 90 day supply.

[pazzyanne]

23. Same.

I moved my primary pharmacy 20 years ago. We were ahead of the times!

[marybourg]

26. Me too. Too bad, I would have liked to

loudly boycott them.

[Cha]

6. Like When Gov Gavin Newsom

weighs in .. TY!!

[SoCalDavidS]

7. I Like Living In A Blue State With A Governor Who Cares nt

[NullTuples]

15. His history is interesting...

He originally was to go to a very elite, private, religious SF high school but ended up going to the public high in Marin. Granted, it was still in an affluent area, but not everyone was. Most were fairly liberal though. I can't help but think the experience, students and teachers he met there affected who he would become.

[PortTack]

8. Not convinced. Is it a statement to bring down the heat? To then only later fold?

[calimary]

21. I'm still not gonna patronize them.

[W_HAMILTON]

9. It doesn't look like they backed down; more like they just tried to PR their way...

Last edited Thu Mar 9, 2023, 03:03 PM - Edit history (2)

...around doing what they were already doing ( i.e., "...what our position has always been..." ), which caused such a backlash to begin with.

[progree]

12. Yes, it is not news at all. Walgreens never said that they were banning it in all states, but

rather that they weren't going to sell it in the states where the attorneys general have threatened legal action. Nothing in the OP's tweet says anything different. Nothing.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/04/1161143595/walgreens-abortion-pill-mifepristone-republican-threat-legal-action

Walgreens won't sell abortion pills in red states that threatened legal action, NPR 3/4/23

Walgreens won't distribute abortion pills in states where Republican officials have threatened legal action — including some places where abortion is still legal and available. The pharmacy chain said in a statement to NPR on Friday that it's still taking steps to sell the drug in "jurisdictions where it is legal and operationally feasible."

The confirmation came a month after 20 Republican state attorneys general, mostly from states where abortion is banned or heavily restricted, sent letters threatening Walgreens and other pharmacies with legal action if they dispensed mifepristone, an abortion pill.

. . . The company said in a statement to NPR that it has responded to all of the attorneys general to assure them it won't distribute mifepristone in their states.

I'm a bit saddened that some people who are popping their champagne corks aren't following this story a bit more carefully. Walgreens did not back down in the slightest. And they did not back down in the least.

[dalton99a]

34. +1

[cstanleytech]

11. They did not back down as they say it will also depend on state laws.

[C Moon]

13. I don't believe it.

I weep for you,' the Walrus said:
I deeply sympathize.'
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

[In It to Win It]

14. Not quite sure that this is backing down

Walgreens should know by now that the best to do is to say nothing.

[Hekate]

17. Caved, did they?

I still have no respect for them, but I’m glad for the people here who have no other pharmacy to go to.

[MagickMuffin]

18. To be very clear, Walgreens sounds like nothing's changed

They are still denying women who live in those 20 states.

That’s how I interpret their statement.

[nilram]

19. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

Of course. Don’t you remember that?

[calimary]

20. Go Get 'em, Gavin!

You’ve got my vote if you ever run for president.

[pecosbob]

22. Not a cave...this was their position before the statement by the State of California was made

They won't dispense mifepristone in any state that prohibits the sale. That's all.

[vanlassie]

24. Gavin didn't say we won't do business with you if you

refuse to sell to California women. It can be interpreted that he is using the buying power of California to pressure Walgreens from refusing to sell the drug elsewhere. Walgreens seems to have been willing to cave even in places where the drug isn’t banned simply because there is a threat.

[Takket]

25. WHat does "certified by the FDA" mean?

They don’t need to be certified by the FDA to sell a legal medication. Are they stalling to make it look like this was not their fault??

[maxrandb]

27. What a BULLSHIT statement

Walgreens: "We will continue to distribute this drug where 'legal'"

Fascists Reich-Wing Judge in Texas: "this drug is banned nationwide by my injunction"

Walgreens: "oh, well".

These corporations "wiggle" statements might have mattered before our country went full fascist, but that's a BULLSHIT statement in today's reality.

Walgreens, Disney, Home Depot, Delta, Major League Baseball, the NFL, the 80+ Universities that have their sports broadcast on radio stations that offer nothing but racism, fascism, misogyny, hatred and white supremacy, these sports leagues that maintain contracts with Fox, etc., ARE ALL COMPLICIT

Walgreens, et all, should be boycotted to fucking ruin, not only because of their financial support of hatred, but because of their silence and duplicity. It's not enough to make a statement, they need to fight on the right side of history.

I have said this before.

Nothing will change! The racism, fascism, misogyny, hatred and white supremacy...NONE OF IT...will change, unless and until we make racism, fascism, misogyny, hatred and white supremacy unprofitable to the businesses, corporations and individuals that fund and enable it.

[ecstatic]

28. I believe that's a goddamn lie

I have a Walgreens right near me and they've always had a right-wing bullshit way of doing business. I always think back to the time when it was literally freezing and wet outside, I was barely dressed and I tried to get plan B through the drive-thru and the asshole at the window said she couldn't do it at the drive-thru. She said she wanted me to come inside for some reason. Huh? Mind you, this was after plan B became available over the counter.

Also, slightly off topic, but Walgreens has always played games when it came to dispensing my ADHD medication. I've never been able to fill a prescription there. So I pretty much have to walk inside of a Kroger to get everything done because CVS is another mile or so away.

[mopinko]

29. even IF this is a cave, this isnt the 1st time and wont be the last.

they let their pharmacists refuse to fill bc rx’s in states where that bullshit is legal.
when they started that crap, illinois outlawed it in record time.
so, yeah, they have no excuse, and they will do it again.

[intheflow]

32. Just to be clear: Walgreens is doubling down on their stance with this explanation.

They have no intension of offering it in states that pretend denying women the right to their own bodily autonomy is really in women's best interest. Walgreens, you know what else pharmacies do? They follow SCIENCE and dispense medication a DOCTOR has approved.