#652 - Peace & Life: CA boycotts Walgreens/Oscars/Vegans - March 10, 2023
The Plot Thickens: California to Boycott Walgreens
The pharmacies that have applied to carry mifepristone as an abortion pill – Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid – have always said they would do so only in states where doing so is legal. But since some state attorneys general sent them letters advising them of bans or restrictions, Walgreens assured them they wouldn’t carry it in those states. The media treated this like a news item – Walgreens is refusing to carry it in 21 states!
California governor Gavin Newsom responded by announcing that the government of California would review its policies to see how the state government could boycott Walgreens. Other groups are also talking about boycotting Walgreens for saying it would follow the law.
There are at least two likely impacts of this:
Walgreens ended up with boycotts from both sides. That is, opponents of the pill boycott because Walgreens offered to carry it, but also proponents boycott when Walgreens agreed to abide by state laws. Therefore, those large pharmacy chains that haven’t applied for certification yet
are considerably less likely to go down this road at all.
Newsom has given the idea and set the precedent, so states where government officials oppose the pharmacies carrying the drug have a model to follow.
Oscars – Ceremony Sunday, March 12
Among the short documentaries nominated for Oscars is one of special interest to all peace advocates: Stranger at the Gate. You can watch it here. Malala Yousafzai is executive producer; see her Guest Column: ‘Stranger at the Gate’. The PBS News Hour did a segment on it.
It’s about a U.S. Marine, a combat veteran who hated Muslims so much that he had a plan to go blow up a mosque – that is, commit mass murder. But since his daughter didn’t like his hatred (she didn’t know of the plan), he decided he would attend the mosque first in order to get evidence of how evil these people were. He was welcomed with open arms, attended for several weeks, and ended up joining. It’s a forceful example of the power of kindness.
In the category of best picture, All Quiet on the Western Front, based on the novel and with a previous film adaptation, shows the horrors of World War I from the perspective of German soldiers. Women Talking, based on a true story, grapples with the aftermath of sexual abuse committed by some Mennonite men in a Mennonite community; Mennonites are pacifists and officially consistent-life.
Vegans for Preborn Rights
Kristin Monahan, who wrote this blog post for us, now has founded an organization with a fine website: Vegans for Preborn Rights. The group also has positions opposing war, the death penalty, and other forms of violence.
Our Latest Blog Post
In one of our posts that offers quotations with varying insights from different points of view, we offer: The Death Penalty and Abortion: Perspectives on Connections.
Quotation of the Week
Marilyn Kopp
Letter to the Editor, Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 6, 2023
It is misogynist to suggest that women are oppressed by their own life-giving capacity. We will never be totally free until we realize that the beauty, power and strength of pregnancy is something that deserves to be accommodated and supported, not devalued and denigrated.
Abortion conflicts with authentic feminist principals of justice, non-violence and non-discrimination. Those who defend abortion have instead adopted the worst patriarchal standards: Seeking power through control and domination, condoning violence on the grounds of personal privacy and using killing to resolve conflict.
A truly just amendment would address the challenges that unplanned pregnancies present with life-affirming solutions, not with the lethal violence of abortion