American Family Association (AFA) has been urging retailers not to sell the pill because of the health concerns for babies in the womb and the women who take it. Earlier this year, the Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC) issued a report revealing just over 1 in 10 patients experience a serious adverse health event within 45 days after taking the abortion pill.
Costco announced last week that not selling mifepristone at its 500 locations "is based on the lack of demand from our members and other patients."
Hannah Lape of Concerned Women for America (CWA) says it is great news.
"These pills are pouring into pro-life states via mail, trafficked across state lines, and we're seeing actually a majority of abortions occurring because of the abortion pill and not at brick-and-mortar abortion clinics," she notes. "So, the next target in reducing abortions in the United States would be to start lowering the amount of abortion drugs that are being distributed."
Lila Rose of Live Action is also pleased with Costco's announcement.
"Walgreens and CVS should follow Costco's lead and immediately stop trafficking in the deaths of children," she posted on X. "The FDA must pull its approval of this lethal drug!"
Lape thinks other retailers with pharmacies could follow suit.
"I am always hoping for the best, but I do know that cracking down on the abortion pill is more than just having retailers decide to stop distributing them," she says. "Some of the biggest ways they're getting distributed now is via anonymous online forms."
This summer, a CWA intern researched how many Google searches it took to get an abortion drug at her front door. Even though she lives in a state where it is illegal to have the abortion drug shipped to her home, the intern was able to get that shipment verified without providing identification or age.
"She didn't have an ultrasound; she wasn't screened for any sort of pre-existing condition like an ectopic pregnancy," Lape relays. "So, we see this as a really pervasive issue."
While she does hope that CVS and Walgreens follow Costco's lead, she recognizes there is much more work to do, particularly getting the FDA to stand up and say that chemical abortion is extremely dangerous.
Editor's Note: American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
