Costco delved into the abortion debate last week when it announced it would not begin selling the abortion pill Mifepristone, citing a lack of demand among its customers.
"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 Hill.
Although the announcement effectively amounted to the company changing nothing about its current business, anti-abortion groups like the conservative religious coalition Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) took it as a victory and said they would look to turn up the pressure on other major retailers.
ADF legal counsel Michael Ross said in a statement, “We applaud Costco for doing the right thing by its shareholders and resisting activist calls to sell abortion drugs.”
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s Emily Erin Davis commended the move as a clear message that the wholesaler “won’t be complicit in the abortion industry’s agenda to sell dangerous abortion drugs.”
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) characterized Costco’s announcement as giving in to far-right pressure.
“I am deeply alarmed by news reports that Costco is refusing to sell safe, effective, and legal medication for no other reason than to appease the politics of anti-abortion fanatics,” Murray said in a statement following the news.
“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,” added the senator. “I am demanding that Costco immediately reverse course—follow the science and the facts, not the demands of far-right anti-abortion extremists.”
