Pro-Life Investors and Shareholders Score Huge Win: Costco Will Not Carry Deadly Abortion Pills

On August 14, Costco quietly announced that it would not be selling dangerous abortion pills in its pharmacies, citing a lack of demand.

The pro-life community celebrated the news as one step in a long-term, multi-pronged effort to protect preborn human life.

What makes this moment especially significant is that it wasn’t just a spontaneous corporate decision made in a vacuum— it was the result of strategic and faithful persistence by pro-life shareholders and investors pushing back on Big Abortion demands to access the megaretailers’ pharmacies.

This type of successful pro-life investor and shareholder advocacy demonstrates that principled voices can influence even the largest companies, and that cultural change doesn’t just happen in courts or legislatures, but in American boardrooms, too.

Costco, and its 500 pharmacies nationwide, now join a growing list of retailers that have decided not to carry the deadly chemical abortion pills.

In January and February of this year, respectively, Walmart and Kroger confirmed they will not sell Mifepristone. In December 2024, Sam’s Club confirmed it does not carry the abortion pill.

These major retailers are responding, in part, to a multi-year campaign effort by faith-based investors led by Inspire Investing and legal advocates at Alliance Defending Freedom to keep abortion pills off the shelves.

“God wants His people managing His money for His glory according to His values.”

One year ago, in August 2024, Inspire Investing and Alliance Defending Freedom released letters representing a coalition of diverse financial investment firms with over $100 billion in assets.

The letters were addressed to the business executives at Costco, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and McKesson. They called on the leaders of those organizations to “resist political pressure to begin selling chemical abortion drugs at their pharmacies.”

The letters highlighted the controversial nature of the pills, the uncertain legality, safety concerns and the cost of alienating customers, not to mention shrinking the future customer base by facilitating the deaths of preborn babies.

The letters warned, “Dispensing it [Mifepristone] is filled with legal and political risk and will inject Costco into the middle of an intense political battle at great expense to its reputation. It is also wholly unnecessary to your business. We urge you not to dispense Mifepristone.”

In a statement following the Costco decision, Inspire Investing said,

We thank Costco for listening to our concerns and making a decision that serves their members, protects their brand, and avoids a divisive political fight.

This victory would not have been possible without the tireless support of our coalition partners, including Alliance Defending Freedom, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC), American Family Association, Idaho Family Policy Center, Salt and Light Catholic Radio, and numerous faith-based investors, as well as the 14 state treasurers who joined our efforts, the more than 9,000 individuals who signed our petition, and all the investors and citizens who spoke up.

Together, we made a real difference to protect the unborn and safeguard women’s health.

Big Abortion has used investor and stockholder influence for decades. It’s refreshing and exciting to see the pro-life movement use its influence in the financial industry to defend life.

This development is a major pro-life victory and unmistakable evidence that when we work together the pro-life community can drive meaningful change.

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