Abortion foes celebrate this mega-retailer’s decision not to stock abortion medication
Abortion opponents are taking a victory lap over warehouse retailer Costco’s decision not to stock abortion medication at its in-store pharmacies.
"There’s no question this is a win for Costco shareholders,” Michael Ross, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), told The Hill . “Retail pharmacies have little to gain and much to lose by turning themselves into abortion dispensaries.”
But the decision by Costco, which operates 600 warehouses nationwide and commands 60% of the domestic warehouse club industry, is a limited victory for those hoping to constrain access to abortion medication.
In 2024, the ADF, joined by other anti-abortion groups, sent letters to Costco, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and McKesson, urging the retailers to “resist politicized calls” to start dispensing mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medical abortions, according to The Hill.
Most pharmacy chains remain unpersuaded by that argument, according to The Hill.
Both CVS and Walgreens have continued to dispense the drug at their pharmacies in states where abortion remains legal, including Massachusetts.
Most abortion pills in the U.S. are distributed via mail-order pharmacies, which remain free to distribute the medication across state lines, the online news organization reported.
The fight over medication abortions remains one of the fronts in the wider war over abortion access that was sparked anew when the U.S. Supreme Court toppled Roe v. Wade, returning the issue to the states.
In 2024, the high court threw out a lawsuit that sought to curtail access to Mifepristone, ruling that the doctors and medical groups that challenged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s expansion of access to the drug lacked the standing to sue.
The justices did not rule on the merits of the case — namely, whether the FDA had acted properly, thus leaving the door open to future challenges.
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