CVS, Walgreens Plan to Offer Abortion Pills Following New FDA Regulation

Vanessa Etienne
·2 min read
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CVS, Walgreens Plan to Offer Abortion Pills Following New FDA Regulation

Two of the nation's largest drugstore chains announced that they intend to sell abortion pills following the Food and Drug Administration's new regulation allowing the medications to be offered at retail pharmacies.

Walgreens and CVS have both confirmed to CBS that they will seek certification to sell mifepristone in states where abortions are legal.

"We are working through the registration, necessary training of our pharmacists, as well as evaluating our pharmacy network in terms of where we normally dispense products that have extra FDA requirements and will dispense these consistent with federal and state laws," a spokesperson for Walgreens told the outlet.

According to The New York Times, neither chain has provided details as to when the abortion pills are expected to be offered or whether they would be offered only in stores or via mail order, or both.

CVS, Walgreens
CVS, Walgreens

Getty Images; David J Phillip/AP/Shutterstock

The FDA's updated mandate was first announced Tuesday, allowing pharmacies that agree to certain criteria to dispose the abortion pill mifepristone with a prescription order from a certified healthcare provider. However, pharmacies in states that have near-total abortion bans are not able to participate.

RELATED: How Does the 'Abortion Pill' Work? Here's Everything to Know About a Medical Abortion

mifepristone (L) and misoprostol tablets
mifepristone (L) and misoprostol tablets

ELISA WELLS/PLAN C/AFP via Getty Mifepristone (L) and misoprostol tablets

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GenBioPro, the generic maker of the pill, states on its website that the pill works by blocking the production of progesterone, a hormone needed to prepare the uterine lining for successful implantation of a fertilized egg and sustain a pregnancy. It is then followed by misoprostol, a prostaglandin that induces uterine contractions, which expel the pregnancy.

GenBioPro CEO Evan Masingill referred to the FDA's decision on Tuesday as "a step in the right direction that is especially needed to increase access to abortion care" in a statement to Politico.

"The FDA determined that removal of the in-person dispensing requirement and the addition of the requirement for certification for pharmacies were necessary to minimize the burden on the health care delivery system of complying with the [agency's Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy], while still ensuring that the benefits of mifepristone for medical abortion outweigh the risks," he explained.

The news comes just as the Justice Department announced that the U.S. Postal Service can also continue to deliver prescriptions of abortion medications despite the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022.