A group of Christian investors are warning some of the largest U.S. retailers including Costco and Walmart against selling the abortion pill mifepristone.

Companies offering the drug risk reputation and legal repercussions, according to an Aug. 2 letter sent to CEOs at the two retail giants, as well as Kroger, Albertsons and medical distribution company McKesson Corp. The group said 6,000 Costco customers have signed a petition saying they will cancel their membership if the retailer starts selling the pills.

The religious coalition behind the petition owns about $172 million in shares of the five companies. The coalition was led by Boise, Idaho-based Inspire Investing, which manages $3 billion of assets, and includes the investment arm of the Southern Baptist churches and the American Family Association, a Christian fundamentalist group.

  • hddsx@lemmy.ca
    135·
    3 months ago

    Anyone want to start a petition to cancel their Costco membership if they capitulate?

    • The Pantser@lemmy.world
      19·
      3 months ago

      Yes please someone start one. I hardly go since grocery prices are too damn high to be able to afford to bulk buy. I can either get a weeks groceries or I can get 3 months of TP and a few other items.

        • mbfalzar@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          3·
          3 months ago

          Bulk prices are generally cheaper per unit but it’s very, very possible to not be able to bear the upfront cost of a large number of units and be forced by that to spend more money in smaller chunks over a longer time

      • hddsx@lemmy.ca
        36·
        3 months ago

        That sounds like single with no kids lol

        I digress, I do now shop at a local store for most things. Cost the same as Costco for less groceries, but there’s less waste

  • esc27@lemmy.world
    105·
    3 months ago

    investment arm of the Southern Baptist churches

    I’m not one of those people who complains about religious tax exemptions and the like. But if you have an “investment arm” then you are not a church, you are some sort of weird, cultist bank.

    • teamevil@lemmy.world
      41·
      3 months ago

      And we need to pass as federal law, the moment a church or religious group with any tax exempt status tries to get political they instantly lose tax exempt status and now owe all the back taxes and penalties due to not paying taxes. Make it painful to be stupid

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
    54·
    3 months ago

    Wait, six thousand??? This really might get serious if they increase their petition by like a hundred thousand more.

  • CaptainPedantic@lemmy.world
    47·
    3 months ago

    172 million in shares

    Lol. The combined market cap of those 5 companies is over a trillion dollars. So they own a combined 0.01% of those companies. Whooptie fucking doo

  • morphballganon@lemmy.world
    46·
    3 months ago

    Those 6,000 families will suffer more from the loss of CostCo than CostCo will suffer from the loss of those 6,000 memberships.

  • P00ptart@lemmy.world
    231·
    3 months ago

    This is the kinda shit that they do that makes church membership go down. It’s been on a downward trend for decades, and they still think they’re some kind of powerful majority. Fuck. Off.

  • Riskable@programming.devEnglish
    16·
    3 months ago

    The religious coalition behind the petition owns about $172 million in shares of the five companies.

    OK so basically nothing. Those companies combined are worth hundreds of billions. Maybe even over one trillion in total.

    Walmart alone has a market cap of $558 billion.

  • teamevil@lemmy.world
    12·
    3 months ago

    Who fuckin cares what a bunch of dumbfuck religious fuckwits think‽ Where are the stupid idiots who push bullshit going to shop? Walmart pushed out alternatives years, so they have no choice. Shut the fuck you bassakward assholes

    • CluelessLemmyng@lemmy.sdf.org
      81·
      3 months ago

      I dunno. Where are these Christian groups going to shop besides Walmart? We know they can’t afford anywhere else and if they could, they wouldn’t be shopping at Walmart.

      • mightyfoolish@lemmy.world
        5·
        3 months ago

        Dollar General is like the most rural store chain to ever exist. It’s also crazy extensive; going to where Walmart wouldn’t even bother with.

      • asteriskeverything@lemmy.world
        2·
        3 months ago

        Sorry if I wasn’t clear but that’s my logic and point, yeah. I think maybe it got interpreted the opposite way or I’m tone deaf to your sarcasm or smth