CVS and Walgreens have joined with the abortion industry in multiple states
CVS and Walgreens have expanded their pharmacy dispensing of abortion pills to over 20 states combined, according to information reviewed by Live Action News.
Key Takeaways:
While certain pharmacies like Costco have chosen to stay out of the abortion industry, CVS and Walgreens joined and have expanded to more than 20 states combined to dispense abortion pills.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) was key in pressuring CVS and Walgreens to begin dispensing the abortion pill in Nevada.
CVS has more than 9,000 locations nationwide, while Walgreens has 12,500 locations in Europe, the U.S., and Latin America.
The Backstory:
A January 2023 approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded pharmacy dispensing of the abortion pill mifepristone. Then, in March of 2024 both CVS and Walgreens announced that they had begun dispensing the drug regimen, which intentionally kills preborn human beings. In the Spring of 2024:
Walgreens Boots Alliance stated it had “completed the FDA certification process to dispense mifepristone” and was “now dispensing, consistent with federal and state laws.” Walgreens began a “phased rollout” in “New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, and Illinois.”
CVS Health announced that its “retail locations have begun filling prescriptions for mifepristone in select states where legally permissible,” adding that “Mifepristone is currently available with an authorized prescription from a certified prescriber at CVS Pharmacy locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.” It noted that “Over the coming weeks, we plan to phase in other states where it is legally permissible for pharmacies to fill prescriptions for this medication.”
Walgreens and CVS vow to dispense abortion pills (Websites accessed 3/20/2024)
Last year, after political pressure from pro-abortion states, Live Action drafted a petition to urge pharmacies including Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Albertsons, and McKesson not to become certified dispensers of the abortion pill.
Live Action also created a popular satire video mocking Rite Aid (which recently filed for bankruptcy) and CVS (which recently shuttered hundreds of stores), suggesting the losses were due to their decisions to dispense the abortion pill.
Watch below:
In addition, Pro-life Waco, led by John Pisciotta has begun protesting outside CVS and Walgreens, to pressure them to stop dispensing these drugs.
The Details:
Recently, CVS, which operates more than 9,000 locations nationwide, “acquir[ed] the prescription files of 625 Rite Aid pharmacies across 15 states” and had acquired and began to operate “64 Rite Aid stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington,” according to a May 2025 release. In October of last year, CVS Health named David Joyner as its new CEO, replacing Karen Lynch.
Today, Walgreens operates “approximately 12,500 locations across the U.S., Europe and Latin America.” The company, led by CEO Tim Wentworth, previously said it would not identify which of its pharmacies would carry the drug “in the interest of pharmacist and patient safety.”
While CVS and Walgreens capitulate to political pressure, reports indicate that several retailers have thus far resisted. In 2024, Kroger and Sam’s Club websites suggested their pharmacies were dispensing the abortion pill, the companies claimed this was the result of a third-party error.
An independent search at Sam’s Club pharmacy by Live Action News indicates the drugs are not available, and on August 14, 2025, Bloomberg News reported that “Kroger said it has never offered the abortion pill and continues to evaluate the regulatory environment.”
“Walmart and Albertsons currently do not offer the medicine. Walmart and Albertsons declined to comment,” Bloomberg News added. However, according to the media outlet, the membership driven retailer, Costco, said that they decided not to dispense the abortion pill (mifepristone 200mg) at its more than 500 pharmacy locations.
BREAKING: @Costco will NOT sell the deadly abortion pill!
@Walgreens & @cvspharmacy should follow Costco’s lead and immediately stop trafficking in the deaths of children.
The FDA must pull its approval for this lethal drug!
In April of 2024, the Nevada Independent reported that CVS and Walgreens in Nevada had capitulated to political pressure to dispense the abortion pill in the state.
“The decision comes after a concentrated push by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), who called on the chains to follow through with Food & Drug Administration (FDA) guidance updates finalized in 2023 allowing mifepristone to be dispensed and sold at pharmacies,” the media outlet claimed, adding:
When drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen [recently renamedCencora] and retail pharmacy chain Walgreens announced last March they would not move forward with dispensing the pill in states where they faced legal blowback from Republicans — potentially imperiling access in other states where abortion is legal, given the need for a certification process from the FDA — Cortez Masto pounced.
“In both public letters and private conversations, the senator made the case that the patchwork of state abortion laws should not preclude Nevadans…” the Independent added. “Two independent pharmacies — A1C Pharmacy in Las Vegas and three locations of Renown Pharmacy in Reno — have also elected to begin dispensing mifepristone,” the outlet claimed at that time.
CVS and Walgreens Expand
CVS: CVS Health was certified by GenBioPro (generic U.S. abortion pill manufacturer) and was originally dispensing in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, GenBioPro’s website now reveals that CVS is dispensing the abortion pill in 22 states as well as the District of Columbia (DC). These include:
California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington.
Walgreens: Live Action News previously documented that Walgreens had been certified to dispense the drugs by Danco Laboratories (name brand U.S. manufacturer), a fact also confirmed on the drug manufacturer’s website.
At the time of the original announcement, Walgreens indicated that it was seeking certification from the generic manufacturer GenBioPro, however, GBP has not indicated that this has occurred. While Walgreens’ original phased rollout was announced in select locations — New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, and Illinois — the corporation has not published a list of expanded states.
“Certified prescribers may locate pharmacies by contacting Danco Laboratories (brand manufacturer) at 1-877-4 Early Option (1-877-432-7596),” Walgreens states online. “If a prescription is received at a non-certified Walgreens in an active state, Walgreens team members will assist the patient to locate an alternate pharmacy that is able to dispense the medication.”
The website SameDayAbortionPills.com, operated out of California by Richard Sanchez, MD, (CA license number G 28966), has indicated that CVS and Walgreens offer the pills in multiple locations; Live Action News has not independently confirmed both pharmacies are dispensing in all these states.
CVS and Walgreens map at Same Day Abortion Pills website
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Abortion Pill·By Carole Novielli
