New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is facing backlash from the pro-life community, a group of Christian investors, and government officials in 15 states for urging major retailers to provide access to abortion drugs, or perhaps face stiff financial consequences.
In July, Lander sent letters to the CEOs of Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Albertsons, and McKesson (a medical distribution company), asking them to immediately begin dispensing the abortion medication mifepristone.
Lander warned that the companies risk investor confidence “if they do not provide timely and accessible reproductive healthcare.” New York City’s pension systems own over $1.32 billion in total shares of the companies.
In response to Lander’s letter, Live Action started an online petition, encouraging signers to make it clear that they do not support the sale of the abortion pill in pharmacies associated with these corporate giants.
“Over 600,000 preborn babies were murdered by the abortion pill last year—and that number is only expected to increase as time goes on,” stated Live Action on its website. “Corporations that choose to engage in dispensing the abortion pill become complicit in the genocide of future generations.”
According to a New York Post article, financial officers in 15 states that ban or restrict abortion responded to Lander by sending a letter to Costco CEO Ron Vachris, imploring him to ignore the “inappropriate” demand.
“The Comptroller’s actions are clear attempts to politicize Costco’s business without regard for the company’s financial wellbeing,” the officers wrote. “This radical position ignores all of the business decisions that go into whether to sell a particular product— decisions that should be made by Costco’s leadership based on how it will serve their customers.”
Additionally, a coalition of Christian investors, owning about $172 million in shares of the five companies, sent letters to the CEOs, warning them that offering the abortion drug will risk repercussions, according to Bloomberg.com.
The coalition, led by Inspire Investing of Boise, Idaho, has a petition signed by 6,000 Costco customers who will cancel their membership if the retailer starts selling the pills, Bloomberg reported.
In January of 2023, FDA regulatory changes allowed retail pharmacies, like CVS and Walgreens, to dispense mifepristone. In his letter to the CEOs, Lander encouraged the nation’s largest retailers to follow suit.
The letters emphasized the “well-established safety and efficacy of mifepristone,” urging the corporate boards to ramp up efforts to become certified and start dispensing.
Live Action, in its petition, challenges those safety claims, stating that “the abortion pill has been associated with the deaths of 32 women since 2000 (according to the FDA) and carries significant risks of serious side effects and/or complications for the women who take it.”
The petition also invites the five CEOs to listen to the heartrending testimonies of women who have used the abortion pill to end the lives of their preborn children (recorded in Live Action’s “I Saw My Baby” video series) and ask themselves: “Would I want my sister, my daughter, my wife, my mother to go through something like this? Would I want to be part of causing them such suffering?”
Live Action said government officials have no business demanding companies dispense deadly abortion drugs, “especially when those officials have long-standing connections with Planned Parenthood as Mr. Lander does.”
In a 2018 post on the social media platform X, Lander called himself “a proud member of the Planned Parenthood family,” and thanked the organization’s former president, Cecile Richards, for “showing our daughters (and our sons) what it looks like to fight for equality with brilliance and compassion.”
Previously, Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, worked for Planned Parenthood in various roles, including Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Chief Strategy Officer, and General Counsel.
In its petition, Live Action pleads with the CEOs of the major corporations to reject the influence of Lander and any other government official pressuring their corporations to become certified to dispense the abortion pill: “…Dispensing abortion drugs for use in terminating a pregnancy will result in your corporation being complicit in the murder of hundreds of thousands of preborn children, potentially damaging the reputation of your business and corporation’s brand and increasing the likelihood your shareholders could face losses due to boycotts from existing and future customers.”