On May 16, I awoke early to attend the virtual annual shareholders meeting of CVS Health, one of the two major U.S. pharmacy chains that began dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone at select stores in March. The meeting took place at 7:00 a.m. Central Time—so any shareholders on the West Coast would have to get up before the crack of dawn to join this meeting!
The meeting was only open to shareholders, but I purchased a share of CVS stock back in March after they began to sell abortion pills, when my colleague John Jansen realized this shareholders meeting was coming up. I had previously purchased a single share of Stericycle stock in order to attend their annual shareholders meeting in 2019. But that was before the pandemic, and such meetings were held in person back then. Now they’ve moved them online—in part, I suspect, to further distance company officers from disgruntled shareholders.
What will CVS tell women to do with the bodies?
The CVS shareholders meeting only lasted about half an hour, and while they were going through the motions of reviewing shareholder proposals and rubber-stamping the election of board members, I submitted several questions via an online form that was live during the meeting. I asked questions like “What will CVS tell a women who call a pharmacist and asks what to do with the tiny embryo or fetus in her toilet after being killed by the abortion drugs CVS sold her?” And: “How have the protests at CVS stores over selling abortion pills impacted customer relations?” I also asked how much money they’ve made on abortion pill sales, and how they would screen to make sure no woman being sold these pills is being coerced into getting an abortion.
Finally is was time for the question and answer period, and I waited to hear if my questions would be acknowledged. In fact, the first topic raised was mifepristone. The woman handling the Q&A—whom we could only hear and not see on our screens—noted that several questions had been received about the abortion drug. I don’t know if they were all mine, or if others were also raising such questions. But no real answers were forthcoming. The woman did not read through any of these questions, but merely stated the CVS Health is dedicated to serving women’s healthcare needs, and that every drug they dispense is FDA approved.
We won’t let CVS off the hook — nor Walgreens!
This is a disappointing non-answer to say the least. But it was more than I expected. My questions at Stericycle’s virtual shareholders meetings have always been ignored — most recently on May 21. Clearly the CVS management is concerned about this issue. I found that encouraging, and I’m determined to keep the pressure on CVS stores and their national officers until they cease dispensing these vile drugs.
Meanwhile, I’ll be planning to attend the Walgreens shareholders meeting next January. I’ll be buying my single share of their stock later this week!
