(KRON) — On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted that California is “done” with Walgreens, declaring the state will no longer do business with the pharmacy store chain over abortion pill issues. But, it’s unclear exactly how this decision would impact Californians or Walgreens.
Walgreens last week announced it wouldn’t sell abortion pills by mail to 20 conservative-led states. The statement came after attorneys general in the 20 states warned Walgreens and pharmacy chain CVS that they could face legal consequences if they sold abortion pills by mail to those states.
After the announcement, Newsom’s Office told KRON4 that, “California is reviewing all relationships between Walgreens and the state. We will not pursue business with companies that cave to right wing bullies pushing their extremist agenda or companies that put politics above the health of women and girls.”
When KRON4 asked how much business California does with Walgreens and how much it would cost Walgreens if the state backs away, the Governor’s Office did not respond. This was reportedly the case with several other media outlets that pressed the governor for details about California’s relationship with Walgreens.
However, California’s financial transparency database OpenGov shows the state had about $25,000 in business transactions with the billion-dollar pharmacy chain in the 2021/2022 fiscal year.
Walgreens is also not listed as a contract-holder with the state for COVID-19 services, according to the state’s website. CalPERS — California Public Employees’ Retirement System — and CalSTRS — California State Teachers’ Retirement System — also reportedly do not have contracts with Walgreens.
However, the state’s two largest health insurance providers — MediCal and Covered California — do reportedly have a relationship with Walgreens.
Since Newsom’s tweet Monday morning, Walgreens’s stock has dropped about 3 percent, as of Tuesday morning.
