Attorney General Alan Wilson joins letter against the distribution of abortion pills in the mail

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson joined a cohort of other attorneys general addressing CVS and Walgreens, informing them that they are against the distribution of abortion pills.

In a press release, Wilson, alongside a coalition of 20 other state attorney generals stating a letter that they are in an effort to defend the welfare of women and unborn children and uphold the laws as written.

“The Supreme Court made it clear it’s up to the states to decide how best to protect unborn children and women, but the Biden administration is again ignoring the law and overstepping its authority,” Attorney General Wilson said. “That’s why I’m letting these companies know that we will do everything we can to uphold the law if it’s broken. Use of the mail to take human life is reprehensible.”

The letter informed both companies their plan is unsafe and illegal, the press release stated.

The letter stated “Federal law expressly prohibits using the mail to send or receive any drug that will ‘be used or applied for producing abortion’… the text could not be clearer: ‘every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion … shall not be conveyed in the mails.’ And anyone who ‘knowingly takes any such thing from the mails for the purpose of circulating’ is guilty of a federal crime.”

“We emphasize that it is our responsibility as State Attorneys General to uphold the law and protect the health, safety, and well-being of women and unborn children in our states,” the attorneys general conclude in the letter, “Part of that responsibility includes ensuring that companies like yours are fully informed of the law so that harm does not come to our citizens.”

This is based on a recent announcement made by CVS and Walgreens saying they are seeking for the Food and Drug Administration’s certification to sell abortion pills using the mail, according to a press release.

The letter was authorized by Missouri and joined by the attorney generals of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

The letters can be viewed at https://www.scag.gov/media/yb0lhjm1/2023-02-01-fda-rule-cvs-letter-tom-moriarty.pdf and https://www.scag.gov/media/qocnoffk/2023-02-01-fda-rule-walgreens-letter-danielle-gray.pdf

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