Pharmacies, Birth Control, and the Refusal Thereof

[desertvixen]

LJ cut for those who want to avoid politics. You should be able to guess the general subject...

So, I keep getting emails from Planned Parenthood about sending letters to our reps about pharmacists not filling birth control. After getting the newest one about a woman in Missouri being refused when she tried to have her prescription for EC (emergency contraception) filled, I started thinking.

Has anyone brought up the idea of a boycott of sorts? Not shopping at places that will not fill BC prescriptions? I realize part of the problem may be that it involves national chains where there are differing policies, but then shouldn't there be a single policy? Shouldn't willingness to fill ALL prescriptions be a requirement to hold these positions?

I ask, because honestly, I don't see the letters to politicians doing all that much good. And since women do the majority of the shopping/deciding WHERE to shop, it seemed like an idea worth entertaining.



This entry is public, so feel free to link, discuss, drag people here, whatever floats your boat.

DV

Comments

[rockahulababy.livejournal.com]

It's been brought up a few times at sluts4choice, for sure. I definately try not go to any places that have refused birth control to women. One of the reasons I now claim residency in Illinois - the current governor is very pro-birth control. (And any insurance company that offers coverage to citizens in Illinois HAS to cover birth control. I'm so happy he got that passed.)

[shutthef-up.livejournal.com]

I've heard of this problem. Also, that some pharmacists not only refuse to fill the prescription, but will also refuse to return the script.

Personally, I think that anyone who is so morally conflicted about handing over some prepackaged pills needs to find another job. But I think there's a 'religious freedom' case in the offing here. Because I'm a paranoid bitch and I've been hearing rumbles here and there about how Christians are now OMG!Oppressed! and discriminated against for their beliefs. Umm, right...

Right now, I'm under the impression that the biggest problem is in the smaller bible-belt towns, where there may only be one or two pharamacies, so therefore have a bit of clout. I sort of got the impression that, thus far, even the major chains aren't firing/letting go pharmacists who do this kind of shit. Again, probably because they're afraid of a religious persecution lawsuit. I think it unlikely that they would lose, but, with the Prez' top choice for the next Supreme Court judge... well, I'm not so sure.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

Because I'm a paranoid bitch and I've been hearing rumbles here and there about how Christians are now OMG!Oppressed! and discriminated against for their beliefs. Umm, right...

Yes. The news is full of stories of people being killed/beaten up/refused jobs etc because they were Christians.

I'm not buying that one either, especially considering the religious beliefs of the man in the white house on Pennsylvania Avenue.

After getting the email from PPFA, I tried looking for any news on it, but didn't get to into the search. Maybe tomorrow.

I find myself wondering if Miers is a decoy candidate, y'know? A female candidate who is OBVIOUSLY unsuitable to a large number of women. But if she gets turned down, they can put a man up and say, "Well, you didn't want a lady judge..."

DV

[shutthef-up.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, don't even get me started...

Yes. The news is full of stories of people being killed/beaten up/refused jobs etc because they were Christians

Riiiight. Most of it I've read about is how asking them to fill a prescription is violating their deeply held pious beliefs about the sanctity of life. Besides, the woman who wants them is just a slut/whore/nympho and why would they compromise their values just for someone like that!

The subtext that I've always gotten from the right-to-lifers is that it's not so much that every life is sacred (otherwise they'd be far more interested in something like Amnesty International), but that pregnancy is God's retribution for having sex. And it fucking galls them that a woman might enjoy her sexuality without fear of getting pregnant. And it think it goes even deeper than that. Men are not to blame in any way, shape or form for any unfaithfulness or whatever. Oh no... it's always a woman that leads him astray. Someone's darling teenaged boy would never dream of having premarital sex. Oh no... It was the slut/whore/evil girl who enticed him...

Gah... like I said, don't get me started.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

Besides, note the lack of care for what happens after the children are born.

DV

The Sudan?

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

Well, actually, the news is "full of stories of people being killed/beaten up/refused jobs etc because they were Christians". Or rather, not so much "full" (this is the mainstream idiots we're talking about) but as full as you can get with their melange of bigotry and ineptitude (Katrina, anyone?) After all, your response is a fairly typical (and fairly moderate) one: That particular event simply doesn't fit their world view. It remains invisible to them, and goes largely unreported.

It's just that the beatings, murders et al. are taking place in China, Indonesia, the Arab world, etc., and, scarily, in parts of Western Europe with a large unassimilated Muslim population (Belgium, France)

In the U.S. not so much, though anti-Catholoic bigotry does appear endemic in certain (cough-academic-cough) circles.

[lonelydolly.livejournal.com]

I don't know how or if Target backed up this one pharmacist's decision........in my opinion anti choice people act more of their own accord...did that make sense? It only takes one pharmacist to make Target look bad, one person who felt their beliefs were more important than a woman's need. So should we "boycott" Target? Is this pharmacist still employed at Target after all of this? Sadly, this is what happens when the laws were scoffed at in effort to make EC over the counter. Now it's in the hands of people who like this fool at Target think they can judge. Do they judge when filling precriptions to a person with AIDS? You have to wonder......what is the difference between that patients need and the need of a woman looking for EC?

I suppose for now what you want to do is get EC from places that are women friendly, Planned Parenthood, abortion clinics, etc.......America is headed down a scary path right now.....look at Harriet Meirs and BE Afraid. Your health is in the hands of religious zealots who just happen to work at places like Target. I don't know if I would be quick to cast blame on Target. One reason, when we think of stores like this, Wal Mart comes to mind, right? For school/work (I work in a clinic) I purchased this book from Wal Mart online: The Clinician's guide to Medical and Surgical Abortion by Maureen Paul, a book put out by the National Abortion Federation.

So in my belief, it is single pharmacists taking their fucked up ideals and making these places look bad. Now what Target does about it will make or break them in my eyes.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

I don't know how or if Target backed up this one pharmacist's decision........in my opinion anti choice people act more of their own accord...did that make sense? It only takes one pharmacist to make Target look bad, one person who felt their beliefs were more important than a woman's need. So should we "boycott" Target?

That is the other end of it, of course. I tried searching around for news about the incident, but haven't seen anything other than the PPFA email.

America is headed down a scary path right now.....look at Harriet Meirs and BE Afraid. Your health is in the hands of religious zealots who just happen to work at places like Target. I don't know if I would be quick to cast blame on Target.
So in my belief, it is single pharmacists taking their fucked up ideals and making these places look bad. Now what Target does about it will make or break them in my eyes.

I, too, would like to know what sort of a reaction Target (the corporation) will have. I think it would make an impact on the situation if one of the big stores would make a blanket statement, to the effect that pharmacists will fill prescriptions. Period, end of story. There have also been instances where pharmacists have not given back the scrip.

Harriet Miers scares me plenty. We can only hope she'll be unacceptable to enough other parties to block her from being appointed.

DV

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

We do that. Part of it though, and this is the harder part to get done. A boycott has to be known. The loss in revenue needs to be from a known cause, not just a dip.

Which means people need to send letters to the corporation, as well as refusing to shop.


TK

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

I got the email from PPFA too, wrote Target & didn't save the answer, but the response seemed to be on the order of "this is not our policy." I'm thinking about going to the annual meeting (stockholder) to make sure.

[rockahulababy.livejournal.com]

There was a post about it at sluts4choice, you can read it here (http://www.livejournal.com/community/sluts4choice/537832.html).

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

Definitely going to go to the annual meeting, then. Thanks for the cross-reference, will add sluts4choice.

ACTUALLY, A BETTER IDEA

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

A better idea for expressing one's views via one's wallet might be checking with the pharmacy/manager to insure that a prescription will be filled. If the answer is no, then don't shop.

On this issue, I'm luckier than most. The military will not only prescribe and fill birth control, but it's not something I have to pay for. It's the part of my medical benefits I enjoy the most.

The problem, of course, is that a lot of women aren't this lucky.

DV