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Murray, Cantwell, Ferguson talk about reproductive rights and Walgreens

Washington Democrats are talking about what they’re doing to fight efforts to curb women’s reproductive rights.

Walgreens is in the sights of U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell after the pharmacy chain said it would not distribute an abortion drug, Mifepristone, in states where it’s illegal, a drug Murray says is used in more than half of abortions.

Murray says they plan to send a sternly-worded letter to Walgreens,  “asking Walgreens to make it very clear what their policy is,” Murray says, “and telling them that we expect them to provide and FDA-approved drug to their patients and to let their patients, even in those states where it is illegal, to know what their access points are.  What they put out is confusing.”

Walgreens sent a letter to the Attorneys General (see image below or click here to read the letter as sent to Kansas’ Attorney General) in states where the drug has been made illegal, and the company will only say it would not dispense the drug in nor mail it to any states where it’s not allowed by law.

Meanwhile, State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has filed a lawsuit in a Washington federal court he says is meant to counter one in a Texas federal court that seeks to block the use of the drug nationwide.  The plaintiffs in that case include doctors that have used Mifepristone.  The argument is that the Food and Drug Administration acted unlawfully when they approved the use of Mifepristone as part of a two-step chemical abortion process.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson at Planned Parenthood Seattle

Ferguson says they filed the suit in that Texas court because they were aware of the record of the judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by President Donald Trump.  Kacsmaryk has ruled against several Biden Administration policies, including a plan to end the Trump-era “Remain In Mexico” immigration policy and limits on federal labor guidance that says civil rights law protects LGBTQ workers.

Use of Mifepristone comes with federal restrictions, which Ferguson says do not apply to thousands of other drugs.  He cited Viagra as an example.  The suit seeks to lift those restrictions on Mifepristone, which Ferguson says could actually increase access to the drug.

Abortion opponents have called for abortion to be banned or severely restricted, even in some cases where the mother’s life is in danger, and they say women should opt for alternatives, like adoption.

Murray and Cantwell are part of a bi-partisan group, which includes Alaska Senator, Lisa Murkowski, and several other Republicans behind what they call a “compromise bill” that would codify the tenets of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in federal law.  More conservative Republicans have long maintained it’s a moral issue and about protecting the life of a child they argue begins at conception.

Letter sent by Walgreens to Kansas’ Attorney General on its policy regarding the abortion drug, Mifepristone

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