Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul promised that there would be “consequences” if Walgreens refused to distribute an abortion-inducing drug in New York during a Friday interview on “CNN This Morning” with Don Lemon.
Hochul’s comments followed Walgreens’ decision to halt the distribution of abortion drug mifepristone in numerous Republican-led states, as nearly two dozen Republican attorneys general in February threatened Walgreens with legal action over the drug. Hochul told Lemon that pharmacies are the “new battleground ever since women’s rights were stripped in the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” noting that she was sending a preemptive message that abortion rights will be protected in New York, according to the interview.
“We’re gonna go to the mat and protect them every inch of the way, and if they try to suspend the distribution of this important drug to women in the state of New York, there will be consequences,” she said. (RELATED: There’s A New Battlefield In The Fight Over Abortion, And Conflict Is Heating Up)
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that pharmacies would be able to dispense mifepristone. Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey led a coalition of states against the decision, insisting that they would “use every tool at our disposal to uphold the law.”
Weeks after the FDA’s decision, GenBioPro, the company that manufactures mifepristone, filed a federal lawsuit against states that blocked chemical abortions. The company argued that the FDA designation should take priority over state laws in accordance with the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
“States cannot substitute their medical and scientific judgments for judgments FDA has made, and doing so undermines not only access to medication, but the country’s entire drug regulation system,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward and counsel for GenBioPro, said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
New York’s Gov. and AG are urging Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid to commit to dispensing prescribed abortion medication both in store and by mail.@GovKathyHochul joins @donlemon pic.twitter.com/pPefTlEnbg
— CNN This Morning (@CNNThisMorning) March 10, 2023
On Monday, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California would halt business with Walgreens due to the decision to stop distributing mifepristone. Following the decision, Walgreens stock dropped by 1.77%, according to Newsweek.
“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 response to Walgreens’ decision. “We’re done.”
Walgreens did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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