Companies are ditching activism and prioritizing some of the most important issues in our culture — and Walmart is leading that trend.
As shareholders make their voices heard at the biggest brands on earth, American Family Association has been engaging with Walmart regarding its plans to sell mifepristone, one of the drugs most commonly used in chemical abortions. In an era when companies are routinely pulled into the center of America’s most contentious debates, Walmart’s past announcements that it was not currently selling the abortive drug were welcome news. But we wanted more — concrete assurance that Walmart wasn’t planning to sell mifepristone in the future.
As shareholders who want the best for the companies that they own, it’s not just a brand’s response to a current controversy that matters. It’s one thing for a company to say it isn’t taking political sides at the current moment. It’s another thing entirely for a company to say it has no plans to do so in the future. And Walmart, to its credit, did just that. The company confirmed that it has no plans to seek certification to dispense mifepristone.
While some activist groups might decry this as political, the reality is: not selling abortion drugs is a risk mitigation move. As controversy swirls around the drugs used in chemical abortions, more and more companies, including peer competitors like Costco, are realizing that the minimal benefit isn’t worth the risk. As Bowyer Research notes (a firm we work closely with on corporate engagement efforts), a company’s choice to sell abortive drugs is economically, not just morally, backwards.
The financial gain from selling mifepristone is infinitesimal compared to the legal and regulatory risk that choice creates — to say nothing of the lost revenue due to the children who aren’t born as a result. Walmart understands political neutrality. Its 2024 rollback of DEI policies was a major step to restoring shareholder trust. Not taking sides in the abortion debate is another.
Furthermore, Walmart has publicly disclosed its employee healthcare coverage, including an explicit exclusion of gender transition care for children. The company’s publicly available benefits book contains the following clause, one that every other company in America should have too: “Gender reassignment surgery is not considered medically necessary for individuals under the age of 18.”
This is a bold declaration of neutrality, particularly in a world where many corporations have faced significant pressure to do otherwise.
Covering gender transition surgeries for minors means brand risk, reputational damage, and rapidly growing amounts of legal liability. Despite what activist groups like the Human Rights Campaign have been telling companies, putting a blanket prohibition on covering gender transition surgeries for children is the correct business move.
We’re only seeing more evidence that the risks are real. In January 2026, a New York jury awarded $2 million in damages in the first detransitioner medical malpractice case to reach a verdict. That detransitioner was only 16 when the surgery happened. Chances are, we’re only going to see more litigation and escalating risk costs around this issue in the coming years.
Medical associations themselves are changing their guidance on gender reassignment. In early February 2026, both the American Medical Association and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons issued statements recommending that irreversible surgical interventions generally be deferred until adulthood, citing insufficient long‑term evidence and emerging legal and ethical concerns. This is a risk reassessment of risk that corporations simply cannot ignore. Walmart did something that no other company we’ve engaged with has: publicly disclosed what its health plans do and do not cover, in a major step for corporate transparency and investor trust.
Corporate engagement, like what American Family Association is doing, works because it encourages companies to focus on their primary mission, serving customers and shareholders. This isn’t about ESG, DEI, bathroom wars or politics. It’s about keeping companies out of these valleys of risk and on the path to continued success. Ordinary Americans, the kind who shop at Walmart for themselves and their kids, are on the side of companies that choose neutrality. It’s only activists doing otherwise.
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