California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday his state will not renew a $54 million contract with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. after the pharmacy chain said it would not sell the abortion drug mifepristone in some states.
The contract, set to expire April 30, provides specialty prescription drugs, primarily to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and its correctional healthcare system.
The announcement came two days after Newsom tweeted that California would no longer be doing business with Walgreens — “or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk. We’re done.”
Last week, Walgreens
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said it would not sell mifepristone in 20 Republican-led states — including some states where abortion is legal — due to potential legal consequences. Mifepristone was approved by the FDA in 2000 and is used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks. Other pharmacy companies have not commented on their plans.
See: What are the implications of Walgreens’ decision on abortion pills?
“California will not stand by as corporations cave to extremists and cut off critical access to reproductive care and freedom,” Newsom said in a statement Wednesday. “California is on track to be the fourth-largest economy in the world and we will leverage our market power to defend the right to choose.”
“We’re serious about not investing in companies that cave to the extremist agenda of the @GOP,” Newsom added in a tweet Wednesday.
Walgreens does not yet sell the drug in any state, but is seeking FDA certification to do so.
“We are deeply disappointed by the decision by the state of California not to renew our longstanding contract due to false and misleading information,” Fraser Engerman, Walgreens’ senior director of external relations, said in an email Wednesday. “Walgreens is facing the same circumstances as all retail pharmacies, and no other retail pharmacies have said that they would approach this situation differently, so it’s unclear where this contract would now be moved.”
He added that once the FDA certifies, “Walgreens plans to dispense mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so … consistent with federal and state laws.”
Walgreens shares are down about 8% year to date, and down 28% over the past 12 months, compared to the S&P 500’s
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4% gain in 2023 and 7% decline over the past year.
