Costco Wholesale said on Aug.14 that it would maintain its stance of not selling the abortion pill mifepristone at its U.S. pharmacies due to low customer demand.
Mifepristone is a drug that blocks progesterone, the hormone needed for sustaining pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug in 2000 for terminating pregnancy through 10 weeks of gestation, stating on its website that mifepristone is safe when used properly.
“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,” the retailer said in a statement to multiple news outlets.
The move comes amid campaigns against the pill from faith-based groups, including exchange-traded fund provider Inspire Investing and legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
ADF legal counsel Michael Ross applauded Costco for its decision.
“Retailers like Costco keep their doors open by selling a lifetime of purchases to families, both large and small. They have nothing to gain and much to lose by becoming abortion dispensaries,” Ross said in a statement.
Students for Life America (SFLA) praised the move as “a stunning win for life,” saying that it hopes more companies would follow Costco’s policy.
“Costco Wholesale insists its reason was not based on pressure from groups like ours,” SFLA stated. “We at PLG [pro-life generation] never expected an acknowledgement or public change of corporate heart on record. But we would still like to commend the pro-life movement for speaking sense into Costco Wholesale, resulting in saving the lives of the preborn and women.”
On May 14, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he had ordered the FDA to review mifepristone.
Kennedy revealed the decision at a Senate hearing after being pressed by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) who cited research from a conservative think tank that claimed the drug was not safe and effective.
That research was an analysis of insurance claims which found 11 percent of women who took the drug experienced serious adverse events, a percentage far higher than the reported rate of under 0.5 percent among clinical trial participants.
The study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), was not peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal. The EPPC, which describes itself as Washington’s “premier institute working to apply the riches of the Jewish and Christian traditions to contemporary questions of law, culture, and politics,” has not identified the source of the data.
“I think the new data … is alarming, and clearly it indicates that at the very least, the label should be changed,” Kennedy said on May 14.
The health secretary said he told Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA’s commissioner, to do a complete review of the data and report back.
Makary said during his confirmation hearing in March that once he entered office, he would review the data on mifepristone.
“I have no preconceived plans to make changes to the mifepristone policy,” he also said, in response to Democrat senators who urged him to acknowledge studies that they said show the pill to be safe and effective. One review from 2013, for example, found that the pill terminated pregnancies without further intervention for 96 percent of women who took the drug.
During a summit in April, Makary said that he had no plans to take action to limit the availability of mifepristone.
“There is an ongoing set of data that is coming into FDA on mifepristone,” he said. “So if the data suggests something or tells us that there’s a real signal, we can’t promise we’re not going to act on that data.”
In trials for mifepristone, less than 0.5 percent of women who took the drug experienced a serious adverse reaction, such as sepsis, according to the FDA label.
In July 2024, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander sent letters to Costco and other retailers to dispense the abortion drug in states where it is legal. In his letter to Costco, Lander warned that failing to do so could raise “significant investor concerns,” noting that the New York City Retirement Systems held $443.9 million in Costco stock.
Several investment advisers and corporate engagement consultants representing investors who held $56 million in Costco stock sent a letter to the retailer urging it not to sell mifepristone.
Their petition received support from thousands of investors and customers.
Reuters and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
This article has been further updated. The previous version did not include key details on the limitations of the EPPC study and was missing context on the FDA review of the drug. The Epoch Times regrets this error.
This article has been updated. A previous version incorrectly stated that Costco said it would ’stop selling' the drug. In fact, Costco said it will maintain its stance of not selling the drug. The Epoch Times regrets this error.
