Gavin Newsom hits Walgreens where it hurts after company refuses to dispense abortion pill

09 March 2023

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has made it clear that if President Joe Biden seeks reelection, he won't run for president in 2024. Yet some of Newsom's activities indicate that if he rules out a presidential run for next year, he would consider one in 2028. And that includes the governor's forceful defense of abortion rights.

When Newsom, in 2022, ran an ad in Florida attacking the policies of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies, it was about much more than the Sunshine State. Newsom was laying out a case that Republicans, for all their talk about "freedom," are actually very anti-freedom. DeSantis appears to be gearing up for a 2024 presidential run — although he has yet to make a formal announcement — and Newsom was painting him as typical of his party’s authoritarianism.

Newsom has made no secret of his disdain for the Republican Party's anti-abortion agenda, aggressively declaring that California will continue to protect abortion rights under his watch. And he has reiterated that point by taking a stand against Walgreens' decision not to offer abortion medication in many states — including swing states where abortion is still legal. Newsom, in response, has decided not to renew California's $54 million contract with the national drug store chain.

In an official statement, the California Department of General Services announced, "Under this contract, Walgreens has received about $54 million from the State. California will not stand by as corporations cave to extremists and cut off critical access to reproductive care and freedom. California is on track to be the fourth largest economy in the world, and we will leverage our market power to defend the right to choose."

NBC News reporter Chloe Atkins notes that Walgreens "announced its abortion pills decision last week after facing mounting pressure from a group of Republican attorney generals — in states where abortion is legal and illegal — who told the company in a letter that it could face legal consequences if it sold medication like mifepristone, a common abortion pill, in their states."

On March 6, Newsom tweeted, "California won't be doing business with @walgreens -- or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk. We're done."

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