Costco asserts that it won't sell abortion pill mifepristone

Costco said on Monday that its choice to not sell the abortion pill, mifepristone, remains unchanged, despite calls on the Issaquah-based wholesaler to reverse its stance.

Our position at this time not to sell mifepristone, which has not changed, is based on the lack of demand from our members and other patients, who we understand generally have the drug dispensed by their medical providers," a Costco spokesperson told The Seattle Times on Monday.

Costco, which never stocked the pill, didn't respond to a question asking under what circumstances it would change course.

Bloomberg first reported on Costco's decision on Thursday.

Conservative Christian groups, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, celebrated the move. The organizations have pressured major retailers, including Costco, to not distribute the abortion medication, arguing that it's bad for business and would alienate customers.

"We applaud Costco for doing the right thing by its shareholders and resisting activist calls to sell abortion drugs," said Michael Ross, legal counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, pushed back against Costco's decision.

"It's unreasonable for any major retailer or pharmacy to announce that they’ve entirely closed the door to selling mifepristone, a medication that is safe and effective and used by millions of women—for no other reason than to appease radical anti-abortion activists," Murray said in a statement on Monday.

Investor pressure

Costco's decision follows an effort led by religious groups pressing the company and other major retailers — Albertsons, Kroger and Walmart among them — to not sell mifepristone.

The drug can end a pregnancy by blocking progesterone, a crucial hormone, and can currently be used through 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Dozens of investors signed letters sent last August to corporate leaders making their case.

"The 'growing market opportunity' of abortion drugs is legally and politically fraught, raises significant reputational issues, and reduces the company’s customer base, both literally and because it would drive away many existing customers," the letter sent to Costco CEO Ron Vachris reads.

The signatories included representatives of conservative Christian organization American Family Association, investment banking company Morgan Stanley and religious investment adviser Inspire Investing — a firm that was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year with misleading investors.

The Alliance Defending Freedom supported the groups' efforts to sway corporations like Costco from stocking abortion medication.

"Retail pharmacies exist to serve the health and wellness of their customers, but abortion drugs like mifepristone undermine that mission by putting women’s health at risk," said Ross, the group's legal counsel.

However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that the drug is "safe and effective for its indicated use."

Ross argued that Costco and other retailers depend on families as patrons, and "they have nothing to gain and much to lose by becoming abortion dispensaries," he said.

Costco operates 35 warehouses in Washington state and more than 630 nationwide.

According to Bloomberg's reporting, CVS and Walgreens are in the crosshairs now.

CVS continues to fill prescriptions for mifepristone in select states where it's legal, said spokesperson Amy Thibault.

"We have a long history of supporting and advancing women’s health and we remain focused on meeting their unique health needs," she wrote in an emailed statement Monday. "This includes providing access to safe, legal, and evidence-based reproductive health services, information, and FDA-approved products."

Fraser Engerman, senior director of media relations and issues management at Walgreens, declined to comment on Monday.

"Incredibly alarming"

Sami Alloy, executive director of Pro-Choice Washington, a reproductive freedom advocacy organization, said Monday that Costco's decision will hurt rural residents especially.

She described retail pharmacies as critical access points for patients, particularly in rural Washington, which lacks abortion and family planning clinics.

"This decision by Costco is incredibly alarming and frustrating for a free and democratic society," Alloy said in a phone interview. "Pharmacies have a critical role to play in partnering with patients and providers to get them the medication that they need and should not be acting as an arbiter of what medications people should have access to."

However, Jennifer Allen, CEO of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, doesn't consider Costco's decision to be a win for the involved conservative Christian groups.

“Since Costco has never dispensed mifepristone, nothing about this announcement changes access to care," she said in a Monday statement. "While we would like to see every pharmacy ready and willing to dispense abortion and miscarriage medications, Costco rightly notes in its statement that most patients receive these medications directly from their providers."

Instead, she decries "the dangerous spin by anti-abortion extremists who are trying to claim victory where none exists."

Murray is urging Costco to walk back its decision.

"I refuse to stand by and allow far-right extremists to bully major corporations and dictate what medicine women can or cannot get access to," she said in a statement Friday.

Murray has defended access to mifepristone in recent years. She challenged an official in President Donald Trump's administration on the issue at a Senate subcommittee hearing and urged pharmacies, including Costco, to stock mifepristone.

"Mifepristone is safe and effective—we cannot live in a world where the availability of women’s health care whipsaws back and forth based on the whims of extremists who want to deny women access to basic health care," Murray said Friday.

"I am demanding that Costco immediately reverse course—follow the science and the facts, not the demands of far-right anti-abortion extremists."

What is mifepristone?

Mifepristone is a drug that can end a pregnancy by blocking progesterone, a crucial hormone. The medication can currently be used through 10 weeks of pregnancy.

It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in September 2000, and the agency allowed retail pharmacies to distribute mifepristone to prescribed patients in January 2023.

Mifepristone is available in Washington because abortion is legal statewide to both residents and nonresidents. The state's Health Department reports that, in order to get a medication abortion, a patient must confirm their pregnancy with a test. A medication abortion can happen either in-person or through a telehealth visit.

Mifepristone is usually taken with misoprostol, another drug that induces cramping and bleeding in order to evacuate the uterus — akin to a period or miscarriage. While misoprostol can be consumed by itself to cause an abortion, medical experts say that it's more effective when combined with mifepristone.

"The mifepristone/misoprostol method causes fewer side effects and works better," the Reproductive Health Access Project, a reproductive health care nonprofit, reports. "People who can’t get mifepristone may choose to use misoprostol alone.

Last year, a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upheld access to mifepristone.

Medication abortion was used in 63% of abortions in the U.S. health care system in 2023, the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that advocates for reproductive health, reports.

However, 28 states maintain varying restrictions on medication abortion access, according to the group's fact sheet updated in April. Washington state is not on that list.