Former chief of staff to Gavin Newsom siding with Walgreens in abortion pill fight amid rising tensions
Newsom announced last week that California would be cutting ties with Walgreens after the company said it wouldn't distribute abortion drug mifepristone in 20 states
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The first chief of staff to Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is siding against her former boss following his decision to cut ties between his state and nationwide pharmacy chain Walgreens after it decided to stop distributing an abortion pill in a number of Republican-leaning states.
Attorney Ann O’Leary, who also served as a senior policy advisor to Hillary Clinton and is well-known in Washington, D.C., Democratic circles, is now the lead representative for Walgreens and has participated in calls with Newsom's senior staff amid the rising tensions between his office and the company, according to a report by Politico.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ann O'Leary, wife of University of California at Berkley Law Professor Goodwin Liu, holds their 1-month old son Emmett and sits with their daughter, Violet, 3, before Liu's confirmation hearing to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit before the Senate Judiciary Committee April 16, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
According to the report, Newsom advisors were "alarmed" that O'Leary, an abortion advocate, was trying to convince them to lighten the administration's aggressive approach toward the company.
Newsom announced his hard line approach to Walgreens last week, just days after the company said it would no longer distribute the abortion drug mifepristone in 20 states after facing pushback from GOP attorneys general in February. The liberal governor promised that the pharmaceutical company would face consequences for this action.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
"California won't be doing business with [Walgreens] -- or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk. We're done," Newsom tweeted.
He was later blasted on social media as a "hypocrite" for taking such a stance, with detractors citing his previous criticism of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis taking action against Disney over its "woke" agenda.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shoppers walk by a Walgreens in New York. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.