Kansas AG Kris Kobach warns Walgreens over mailing abortion pills as FDA expands access

Reed Hoffmann/Associated Press file photo

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is warning Walgreens over selling abortion pills by mail, his first foray into abortion since taking office in a state where voters strongly affirmed abortion rights last year.

Kobach, a Republican, in a letter Monday cautioned the pharmacy company that mail-order abortion pills would be illegal, “and Kansas will not hesitate to enforce the law.”

The Food and Drug Administration last month finalized a rule expanding access to abortion medication after some states, including Missouri, imposed total or near-total abortion bans after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. Republican state attorneys general in response have hinted at possible lawsuits against Walgreens and CVS if the companies offer the pills through the mail, citing federal law against sending abortion medications through the mail.

“No self-respecting lawyer would read the law in such a way that is clearly inconsistent with its plain meaning,” Kobach wrote to Walgreens.

Kansas voters in August rejected an amendment to the state constitution that would have allowed the Legislature to ban abortion. The outcome has helped ensure the state remains a central access point for abortion after the end of Roe. Thirteen states currently have total bans, including Missouri, which banned abortion immediately after Roe was overturned.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican appointed by Gov. Mike Parson, was the lead author of a letter signed by 20 state attorneys general last week telling the companies that federal law prohibits using the mail to send or receive drugs used to cause an abortion. The text of the law, “not the Biden administration’s view, is what governs,” Bailey and the state attorneys general wrote.

The FDA’s new rule updated the drugs’ labeling to allow more retail pharmacies to dispense the drugs used in medication abortions, provided they undergo a certification process.

Medication abortions involve taking two drugs in pill form. Mifepristone, which stops development of the pregnancy, is taken first. Misoprostol, which empties the uterus, is taken after the clinic visit and within a couple days of taking Mifepristone.

Kobach’s letter, which he signed alone and addressed only to Walgreens, comes after Planned Parenthood began offering telemedicine abortions in Kansas in December, after a state judge blocked enforcement of a state-law ban on the practice.

Planned Parenthood has said patients seeking a medication abortion via telehealth must still be seen in-person at a health center in Kansas, but the telehealth physician may be located in any state where abortion is legal. Planned Parenthood requires Mifepristone to be taken at the clinic under the observation of the telehealth physician.

Walgreens said Tuesday that it isn’t dispensing Mifepristone “at this time.” A company spokesperson acknowledged it may not be able to provide the drug everywhere.

“We intend to become a certified pharmacy under the program, however we fully understand that we may not be able to dispense Mifepristone in all locations if we are certified under the program,” Fraser Engerman, a Walgreens spokesperson, said in an email.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

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