Aug 14 (Reuters) - Costco Wholesale (COST.O) , said on Thursday it will stop selling abortion pill mifepristone across all its U.S. pharmacy stores, citing low demand.

“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,” Costco said, adding that it will stop the sale at its more than 500 pharmacies.

The decision comes amid campaigns against the pill by religious activist groups, including Inspire Investing and Alliance Defending Freedom.

“Many retailers have become more cautious about taking overt political or social stances after recent controversies triggered boycotts, negative media coverage, and polarized consumer reactions,” said Arun Sundaram, senior analyst at CFRA.

  • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    “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,” Costco said.

    Don’t let the media manipulate you. Costco did not “stop” selling the drug. A WP article makes it clearer that they have never sold the drug.

    For more than a year, Costco deliberated over whether to become certified to dispense mifepristone, the drug used first in the typical two-step regimen for a medication abortion.

    They debated getting certified to sell it and decided not to because most people get the drug directly from their provider, rather than from a pharmacy. The media is spamming this decision not to start selling it as a conservative win when it’s really nothing of the sort.

    Edit: The Reuters article linked by OP was just corrected.

    Aug 14 (Reuters) - (This Aug. 14 story has been corrected to say that Costco will ‘not sell’ mifepristone instead of ‘stop selling’ the pill in paragraph 1 and removes reference to ‘stopping sale’ in paragraph 2)

    They also updated the headline.