A coalition of Christian nationalist outfits is claiming credit for Costco’s recent announcement that it will not start carrying medication abortion at its more than 500 pharmacies nationwide.

Bloomberg News reports that a group made up of Inspire Investing, the Christian legal Alliance Defending Freedom and “treasurers and other financial officials” from several states embarked on a campaign last year to pressure Costco. Claiming to represent more than $172 million in ownership of Costco, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and McKesson, the clique urged these retailers not to start stocking mifepristone. The letter that the group sent was a masterpiece of duplicity, averring that it was merely offering helpful advice on how “trusted retailers” could “stay out of political hot-button issues,” rather than seeking to deny women control of their own bodies. The same alliance is now training its attention on Walgreens and CVS to pressure them to discontinue filling prescriptions for mifepristone. Inspire spokesperson Tim Schwarzenberger brags, “We have this momentum. Now there is a chance to turn to some of the other retailers.”

Costco, on its part, claims that it decided not to dispense mifepristone simply because it hasn’t seen “consumer demand.” That’s perplexing, given that medication abortion accounts for nearly two-thirds of abortions taking place in the United States. Also, mifepristone is widely prescribed off-label to manage miscarriages, which afflict 15–20 percent of all U.S. pregnancies.

For whatever reason, Costco, despite its progressive reputation, has caved on this issue. But the real danger is the Christian nationalist attack on Walgreens and CVS, which do carry mifepristone in states that haven’t outlawed it.

Anti-abortion squads are determined to abolish abortion — and they are not retreating. Whether lobbying for the reinstatement of the 1873 Comstock Act to ban the use of the mails for medication abortion, promoting fetal personhood amendments, introducing outrageous anti-abortion state legislation or harassing pharmacies, they mean business. They are crusaders motivated by their Christian zeal to enforce their dogma on “when life begins” on the rest of us.

The war on reproductive rights is taking a major toll. A dozen states have a full ban on abortion care and seven others severely curtail abortion rights, creating hardship, stress, expense and chaos for hundreds of thousands of Americans a year dealing with unwanted pregnancies, particularly in the South. Miscarrying women are even facing criminal charges in some cases or being denied medical care by fearful medical staff in states with bans.

Physicians, too, are facing charges. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud that its 2025 “Forward Award” honoree at its upcoming convention will be Dr. Maggie Carpenter, who co-founded the Abortion Coalition for Medicine in 2023 to support clinicians serving patients with safe, affordable telemedicine abortion care wherever they live. Last December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fined her more than $100,000 for helping a Texas woman obtain a medication abortion. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has sought to extradite her from New York on criminal charges, his efforts being unsuccessful due to New York’s shield laws.

Whether to continue or end an unplanned pregnancy is a decision that belongs with the pregnant person, not with zealots and their corporate shills, or with pharmacies that should be doing their job and filling prescriptions for legal medicines. Under these extreme circumstances, with women’s rights, lives and futures at risk, Costco’s failure to help ensure access to medication abortion, at least in the states that still allow it, is indefensible. It’s important to let Costco know you’re taking your pharmacy business elsewhere and to support Walgreens’ and CVS’ principled decisions to dispense this health- and life-saving medication.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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