Costco does not break out their pharmacy sales from their quarter trillion dollar overall sales, but their 614 U.S. warehouses are a major player in pharmaceutical sales:
Costco Says It Will Not Sell Abortion Pill Mifepristone
The company attributes its decision to lack of demand.
By Aldgra Fredly - August 15, 2025Costco 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.”
In May, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the FDA to review mifepristone after an analysis found that nearly 11 percent of women who took the drug experienced serious adverse events, including sepsis and hemorrhaging.
That percentage is higher than the summary figure of less than 0.5 percent in clinical trials reported on the drug label, according to the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which published the analysis.
“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.
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.
Costco got lit up by one of their home state Senators for their decision not to sell mifepristone:
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5455913-patty-murray-costco-abortion-pill-mifepristone/
Senate Democrat rips Costco for ‘refusing to sell’ abortion pills
By Steff Danielle Thomas - August 16, 2025Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) hammered Costco on Friday for appeasing “far-right extremists,” after the retailer said earlier this week that its pharmacies would not dispense the abortion medication mifepristone.
“I am deeply alarmed by news reports that Costco is refusing to sell safe, effective, and legal medication for no other reason than to appease the politics of anti-abortion fanatics,” Murray said in a statement following the news. “I refuse to stand by and allow far-right extremists to bully major corporations and dictate what medicine women can or cannot get access to.”
“Where it is legal, retailers and major pharmacies must absolutely make medication abortion available to the women who need it,” the Washington Democrat added.
Costco, in its Thursday announcement, explained that the decision came from a “lack of demand.”
“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 company said, according to Reuters.
The decision comes after CVS and Walgreens announced last year that they received certification to provide the drug in states where abortion remains legal.
Murray pressed Costco to rescind its decision, warning that limiting access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion, is harmful to women’s health.
“Mifepristone is safe and effective—we cannot live in a world where the availability of women’s health care whipsaws back and forth based on the whims of extremists who want to deny women access to basic health care,” she wrote Friday. “I am demanding that Costco immediately reverse course—follow the science and the facts, not the demands of far-right anti-abortion extremists.”
The Supreme Court in a decision last year ruled unanimously that a group of anti-abortion doctors did not have the legal basis to challenge access to the pill.
Despite the ruling, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary are weighing a review of the abortion pill.
Murray questioned Makary during his Senate confirmation hearing on the proposal, as well as President Trump’s moves to gut staff at the FDA.
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