Michael Hiltzik: A spineless Walgreens bows down to antiabortion crusaders

There has long been reason to question whether, despite its pledges to do the right thing, corporate America will stand up for environmental, social and democratic principles.

Here comes Walgreens to extinguish any doubt.

Last week, the giant pharmacy chain stated that it won't distribute or ship a drug used for medication abortions in at least 21 red states, including at least four where abortions remain legal.

What rattled Walgreens' cage was a letter sent on Feb. 1 by the attorneys general of those 20 states, warning vaguely of "consequences" for shipping mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortions. Kris Kobach, the Republican attorney general of Kansas, added his voice to the chorus in a separate letter.

Both letters cite the Comstock Act, which was enacted in 1873 chiefly as an anti-obscenity statute.

Among the