CVS, Walgreens will start selling the abortion pill mifepristone in certain states

CVS and Walgreens will start selling the abortion pill mifepristone at stores in several states this month, the New York Times reported, citing interviews with officials at both companies.

The two pharmacy chains will not be providing the medicine by mail and it only will be available by prescription, the report said.

Walgreens will start providing the pill within the next weeks in a small number of its pharmacies in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois, and CVS will begin dispensing it in all of its Massachusetts and Rhode Island pharmacies. 

President Joe Biden issued the following statement on major retail pharmacies becoming certified to dispense the drug: "Today is an important milestone in ensuring access to mifepristone, a drug that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as safe and effective for more than 20 years. With major retail pharmacy chains newly certified to dispense medication abortion, many women will soon have the option to pick up their prescription at a local, certified pharmacy—just as they would for any other medication. I encourage all pharmacies that want to pursue this option to seek certification."

"The stakes could not be higher for women across America. In the face of relentless attacks on reproductive freedom by Republican elected officials, Vice President Harris and I will continue to fight to ensure that women can get the health care they need, to defend the Food and Drug Administration’s independent and evidence-based approval and regulation of mifepristone, and to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law."