California to sever ties with Walgreens over abortion pill sales.
On March 9, 2023 by Yash Pratap SinghGov. Gavin Newsom announced that California will sever connections with Walgreens over the retailer’s decision to cease supplying abortion drugs in 20 Republican states to resist GOP efforts to restrict reproductive rights. California won’t do business with Walgreens, or any other corporation, Newsom tweeted on Monday. “Walgreens puts women’s lives in danger. We are finished.
In the national conflict between red and blue states over abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned the precedent-setting Roe v. Wade ruling last summer, Newsom’s missive is the governor’s most recent political bluff. Newsom is seeking to resist the pressure that GOP leaders are applying to merchants to prevent access to abortion drugs in their states by using the economic might of California.
Last month, the attorneys general in 20 states with a majority of Republicans threatened legal action against Walgreens and CVS if they continued to mail-order sell abortion drugs in their states. Walgreens responded on Friday by stating that it will not sell the drug in those states.
According to his spokesman, Newsom’s tweet was “a blast across the bow.”
Businesses appear to be giving in to right-wing extreme political pressure, and there are consequences for those actions, according to Anthony York. After Newsom’s decision, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shares decreased 1.8% on Monday. An inquiry for comments was not immediately answered by the Illinois shop.
It was unclear how California may stop doing business with Walgreens and what effect such a move might have on Californians. According to Newsom’s advisers, his administration is only now starting to investigate all of the connections between Walgreens and the state, including contracts with Medi-Cal and Covered California, and does not yet know exactly what severing links would mean.
The California Department of General Services and Walgreens have a $54 million contract that “allows the State to procure speciality pharmacy prescription drugs, primarily used by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and its correctional healthcare system,” according to a statement released by Newsom’s office on Wednesday. The state has decided not to renew at least one of these contracts.
According to the state, DGS informed Walgreens on Wednesday of its decision to terminate the contract before it was set to renew on May 1. The state “instead will explore other options for delivering the same services,” according to the governor’s office, and it will keep an eye on other contracts with Walgreens that might be terminated.
Given the absence of information, advocates for Californians who get state-funded healthcare said it was challenging to predict how the move to cut relations with the shop would affect patients. Before he has decided how the state will implement his strategy, Newsom has the propensity to pounce on contentious political topics and make headline-grabbing declarations.
In reaction to record fuel prices in California, the governor stated last fall that he wanted to impose a windfall gains tax on oil firms. At a special legislative session, he and the legislators are still attempting to determine how to set a profit ceiling for the sector.
