Costco Bows Out of Abortion Pill Sales After Pressure from the Right

by Melissa O’Rourke

Costco said it will no longer dispense the abortion drug mifepristone at its pharmacies, delivering a major victory to pro-life advocates, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The wholesale giant said it will not sell the abortion pill at its more than 500 pharmacy locations across the country, according to Bloomberg. The move follows pressure from pro-life investors and conservative groups that had formally asked Costco and other grocery chains not to dispense the abortion drug last year.

“We commend Costco’s clear message that it won’t be complicit in the abortion industry’s agenda to sell dangerous abortion drugs,” Emily Erin Davis, vice president of communications at SBA Pro-Life America, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We urge all concerned Americans to continue advocating with their voices and wallets by avoiding pharmacies that actively harm women and children. And we urge chains like Walgreens, CVS and others to follow Costco’s lead and avoid getting in the life-ending business of abortion.”

The company attributed the decision to the lack of consumer demand for mifepristone and did not comment on whether outside advocacy influenced its stance, Bloomberg reported. Medication abortions, however, currently account for nearly two-thirds of abortions performed each year.

“It’s a very significant win and it’s one we hope to build on this coming year,” said Michael Ross, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom’s (ADF) corporate engagement team, according to Bloomberg. The ADF was part of a coalition of pro-life groups, firms and financial advisors that sent letters last August to Costco, Walmart, Kroger and other retailers urging them against selling chemical abortion drugs at their pharmacies.

Costco did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Abortion advocates often claim abortion pills are safer than common medications like Tylenol. However, a peer-reviewed study from the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute found no scientifically valid basis for comparing mifepristone to Tylenol.

Another study of insurance data by the Ethics and Public Policy Center showed that nearly 11% of women who took the abortion pill suffered a “serious adverse event” — including hemorrhage, sepsis, fallopian tube rupture or infection — compared to the 0.5% rate stated on the drug’s label.

“I applaud Costco’s decision to not sell dangerous abortion drugs. As an OB-GYN, I have seen firsthand how these drugs destroy unborn human life and send far too many women to the ER with serious complications,” Dr. Ingrid Skop, a Texas OB-GYN and director of medical affairs for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, told the DCNF. “Pharmacists who do not receive OB-GYN clinical training should not be distributing these dangerous drugs.”

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Melissa O’Rourke is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.

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