UNCOVERED: Letters show pharmacy chains are ‘evaluating’ whether to sell abortion pills

In July, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a self-proclaimed “member of the Planned Parenthood family,” warned pharmacy chains that if they didn’t begin dispensing the abortion pill regimen, they should expect to suffer financially. Now, Live Action News has obtained response letters from various pharmacy chains, written in reply to Lander’s demand letters.

These response letters suggest that Walmart and Kroger may be considering a move toward dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone.

The letters, detailed below, were sent to Live Action News in response to a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA), indicating that Walmart plans to “evaluate the requirements related to dispensing mifepristone in our pharmacies.” Kroger claimed the company has begun “a review of the federal certification process.” McKesson responded by e-mail to Lander’s demand, but that corporation’s correspondence (see below) was less clear.

Pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS previously announced that they finalized the pharmacy dispensing certification process this past spring. Additional “certified pharmacies” who agreed to be publicly named have been published on GenBioPro’s website.

NYC Comptroller Letter

In January 2023, the FDA announced its decision to roll back REMS safety regulations and allow retail pharmacies to dispense the abortion drug mifepristone (Mifeprex) after completing a certification process. The drug is reportedly distributed to pharmacies by AmerisourceBergen (recently renamed Cencora), one of the largest pharmaceutical distribution companies in the world.

Just two months later, Democratic lawmakers called on the retail companies to begin dispensing the drug. In June of 2023, Democrat members of Congress pressed Walmart, Costco, Safeway, Kroger, and HealthMart to undergo the certification process to dispense mifepristone.

Then, as Live Action News previously documented, in July of 2024, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander sent letters to pharmacy giants Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Albertsons, and McKesson, urging them to “[p]rovide abortion medication or risk losing investor confidence” and to “start dispensing mifepristone without delay.”

Lander is a former New York City Council member who calls abortion a “human right.” He has publicly praised and supported Planned Parenthood in New York. Planned Parenthood has endorsed Lander in his campaigns, and he in turn has asked his supporters to donate to the abortion organization, calling himself a “member of the Planned Parenthood family.”

A press release published to the Comptroller’s office website, dated July 17, 2024, threatened that if these pharmacy chains delayed getting into the business of dispensing abortion pills, they could risk losing investments “if they do not provide timely and accessible reproductive healthcare.” The release noted, “New York City’s pension systems own over $1.32 billion in total shares of the companies.”

Kroger begins “review” of certification and is “evaluating becoming certified” to dispense abortion pills

On August 15, 2024, Kroger Health president Colleen Lindholz responded:

Dear Mr. Lander:

Thank you for your letter requesting the status of The Kroger Co.’s position on offering mifepristone in our family of pharmacies. Following the Food and Drug Administration’s updated risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for pharmacy dispensing of mifepristone, we began a review of the federal certification process. This includes the logistics involved in bringing the medication to our stores, training our pharmacy teams, and delivering medication to patients in compliance with a complicated and ever changing and litigated framework of federal and state law.

At this time, we are evaluating becoming REMS certified to dispense this product, including the logistics and as-yet unresolved legal landscape associated with that process, and commit to providing the highest level of care to our patients.

Walmart continues “to evaluate the requirements related to dispensing mifepristone in our pharmacies”

Nick Infante, Walmart’s VP of State and Local Government Affairs, thanked Comptroller Lander for the letter he sent to CEO Doug McMillon “regarding certification to dispense mifepristone.”

In the pharmacy chain’s letter, dated August 6, 2024, Infante wrote:

We strive to provide access to high quality health care to our patients everywhere we do business. As with any pharmacy decision, we carefully review the entire regulatory environment. We continue to evaluate the requirements related to dispensing mifepristone in our pharmacies.

Participation in a REMS program is not undertaken lightly, and we continue to access the increasingly complex, overlapping, and sometimes conflicting set of federal and state statutes and regulations that govern the provision of health care and the practice of pharmacy.

McKesson will be “pleased to discuss” its response with Lander “in person”

Michael Garland, Assistant Comptroller for Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment for New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, also e-mailed a demand letter on July 15, 2024, to McKesson CEO Brian Tyler, along with Independent Chairman Donald R. Knauss, and Saralisa Brau, Corporate Secretary & Assistant General Counsel.

Garland immediately received a response by e-mail from Saralisa Brau, dated July 16, 2024, which read, “Hi Mike, I write to acknowledge receipt of the letter from Mr. Lander to Brian Tyler. McKesson will respond in due course. Thank you for your investment in McKesson, and I look forward to seeing you again at the upcoming CII conference.”

Then on August 26, 2024, the pharmacy chain rep added, “Hi Mike, I’d be pleased to discuss McKesson’s response to Mr. Lander’s letter in person at the fall CII conference in Brooklyn… I look forward to speaking with you soon.”

The e-mail does not specify what was discussed; however, Live Action News has reached out to the McKesson Corporation for details. A response has not yet been received.

Pushback against NYC’s political move

Following Lander’s demands upon the pharmacy chains, comptrollers from 15 states pushed back, calling the move ‘political’.

“If we take this reasoning of the NYC Comptroller to its natural conclusion, there may be short term gain from drug sales, but there would be lifetimes of loss in the decreased sales of diapers, formula, food, clothing, school supplies and on and on,” wrote Indiana Comptroller Elise Nieshalla in a public response.

“NYC Comptroller Brad Lander is overstepping by pressuring retailers to sell abortion pills, politicizing business decisions. These choices should be driven by customer needs, not political agendas,” Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar wrote on X.

The Washington Examiner reported that additional pushback came from investors. “Hundreds of individual investors, along with 38 financial managers who hold nearly $173 million combined in stocks for Costco, Albertsons, Kroger, McKesson, and Walmart, wrote in response to pressure on the companies from the New York City comptroller for the chains to begin dispensing the abortion pill,” the Examiner stated, adding, “The large group of financial advisers and investors, including the CEOs of Inspire Investing, Bower Research, and Pax Financial Group, said the comptroller’s argument is simply ‘not true.’”

“The ‘growing market opportunity’ of abortion drugs is legally and politically fraught, raises significant reputational issues, and reduces the company’s customer base, both literally and because it would drive away many existing customers,” the financial managers wrote.

“Shrinking your customer base is also bad for business. The Brookings Institution recently estimated that the average American family will spend $310,000 to raise a child born in 2015. This includes over $50,000 in food and $15,000 on clothes, not to mention furniture, other household and healthcare items, toys and games, or diapers and formula, all things your stores sell. Dispensing the abortion drug will reduce demand for all of these and only make worse the crisis of record low birth rates,” the letters opposing Lander’s demands noted.

The New York City Comptroller’s Office has not forwarded responses by pharmacy chains Costco or Albertsons, however a Freedom of Information Request for any correspondence from the pharmacy chains has been submitted.

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