Pro-Life Pharmacies Refusing To Sell Birth Control

There's a growing trend in America that has nothing to do with gladiator sandals or high-waisted skirts and yet everything to do with women's bodies. According to the <em>Washington Post:

When DMC Pharmacy opens this summer on Route 50 in Chantilly, the shelves will be stocked with allergy remedies, pain relievers, antiseptic ointments and almost everything else sold in any drugstore. But anyone who wants condoms, birth control pills or the Plan B emergency contraceptive will be turned away.

That's because the drugstore, located in a typical shopping plaza featuring a Ruby Tuesday, a Papa John's and a Kmart, will be a "pro-life pharmacy" -- meaning, among other things, that it will eschew all contraceptives.

These stores are a emerging hot on the heels a few highly publicized cases of pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control pills and morning-after pills like Plan B. While pharmacists and the lawyers representing them argue that it's their constitutional right to act on what they think is right or wrong, the result is stores who refuse to even carry the products.

Critics are even more concerned about this, claiming that "the stores could create dangerous obstacles for women seeking legal, safe and widely used birth control methods." The problem is compounded by pharmacists who, while unwilling to fill the prescription themselves, are also unwilling to pass the prescription on to someone who will.

"If I don't believe something is right, the last thing I want to do is refer to someone else," said Michael G. Koelzer, who owns Kay Pharmacy in Grand Rapids, Mich. "It's up to that person to be able to find it."

And lastly, there is growing concern over what will happen if this trend really takes hold.

"We may find ourselves with whole regions of the country where virtually every pharmacy follows these limiting, discriminatory policies and women are unable to access legal, physician-prescribed medications," said R. Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin lawyer and bioethicist. "We're talking about creating a separate universe of pharmacies that puts women at a disadvantage."

You can read the whole article here.

What do you think? Should pharmacists and medical professionals be able to pick and choose which aspects of their profession they partake in? Or should their religious beliefs be checked at the door?

Tell us your thoughts below.

Comments

[sowhatdemos]

Naithom See Profile I'm a Fan of Naithom

I wonder, do these pharmacies sell viagra?

Great question!!

I'm an old middle aged broad who doesn't need contraceptives any more, but I will pay attention to my local pharmacies. And the above question is a great place to start.

"Do you sell birth control? No, then do you sell viagra? Yes"
Sounds like their license has been BUSTED!!! for discrimation!!

Can't we get these stupid born agains out of our secular business? If they refuse to sell BC from a
legit script, pull their license. Period. When money gets involved religion usually takes a back seat!

[95flhtcu]

Pharmacists that work for chains should be fired for not doing their job. If you own the place, you can do what you want. I wouldn't knowingly support a business like that. The problem with pharmacists is getting worse. A while back, a family member was prescribed something by her spouse. She took it to the pharmacy and the Pharmacist actually said "i'm not comfortable filling this prescription"!!! It's not a pharmacists job to be comfortable, you fill the prescriptions as ordered and answer questions. That's it!

[Ray46]

File a complaint with the government agency that regulates pharmacies and then hurt them in the pocketbook by buying as many of your prescriptions from other pharmacies.

Buy a 3 month supply of all your prescriptions you regularly refill through your prescription plan pharmacy (if they have one) or through online drugstores such as drugstore.com or dozens of other online drugstores. You will probably save a lot of money. Tell your friends of how much money you are saving by doing this.

Only buy drugs you immediately need, such as for a sick child, from that local pharmacy. If they ask why you are no longer getting your prescriptions from them tell that because they are unwilling to fill all your prescriptions and pharmacy needs you were forced to go to another pharmacy that was much cheaper on all you prescriptions.

[mandycat]

Why is anyone surprised at this? The Keep-em-Barefoot-and-Pregnant movement is just getting its second wind these days. If you can't persuade women to stay home and happily breed, you force them to breed whether they like it or not.

If nothing else this is a sort of poetic justice. All those small-town Religious Right types who've foisted this Taliban regime on the rest of us will be the ones who suffer. We big city types will hardly notice.

[Theda]

That's very true, Mandycat. I live in Los Angeles and it certainly won't affect us women here at all.

[rmetz74]

Except that the real victims are teenage girls in those rural areas who are too young to vote, or to travel to a pharmacist who will give them the medication they need to live the lives they deserve.

We lucky "big city types" would be pretty heartless to just shrug our shoulders and ignore this problem.

[KarlaElisa]

I say F*ck em, cuz this is just nuts.
Boycott those businesses and if you can't find a supplier in your area shop online.

[Stagehnd1]

This is disgusting. They're in the wron business then.
Religion=Poison!!!

[rambro2]

Their license to operate should be pulled. A business can not discriminate and still come under the rules and laws of the Industry and the governance under which is operates. These are state county and regionally accredited businesses and discrimination is not allowed, regardless of religious preferences. They should lose their licenses, if they don't adhere to the rules and regulations . A pharmacist, likewise can not dispense without the proper license. It's up to the state to step in and enforce the rules. ENOUGH WITH THIS RIGHT WING EVANGELICAL BALONEY. They can't decide who and when they will comply with the laws.

[meanguy]

hear, hear...and Christian bookstores should be REQUIRED to sell porn, and we need mandatory cigarette machines on every corner...and every store should be REQUIRED to sell alcohol...and while we're at it, why shouldn't kosher delis be allowed to refrain from selling pork products??? religious preferences be damned! you know the old saying, the right to operate your own business abnd follow your own consicence ends where some offended weenie's bleating mouth begins

[wmg57]

No, any business licenced to provide prescriptions must comply with the dictates of the prescribing doctor. If all they want to do is run a store they should open a gift shop where they can refuse to sell anything they want however idiotic it may seem to the people who don't buy into their one size fits all doctrines of belief.

[NoElephants]

It's nice to see someone staying true to the morals of the 50's......the 1350's

[revko]

Can a vegan cashier at Wal-Mart refuse to ring up barbeques?

[sheila]

uh, not to mention the extensive WEAPONRY AND AMMO they sell to cross-eyed mouth breathers who should be discouraged from breeding (yes, even with family members).

[meanguy]

he/she could if he owned the store...don't store OWNERS have any rights? it's not like they're forcing anyone to come in and do business with them, or are stopping other pharmacies from filling those prescriptions...here in richmond, the "premier" grocery chain does not sell alcohol, and keeps their stores closed on sundays...so guess what we do? on sundays we go to other stores, and we buy our beer and wine elsewhere...good Lord, you'd think the store owners were snooping in your bedrooms or something

[rmetz74]

No, health care service providers should not be allowed to refuse to give legal, FDA approved medications to people who have a perscription for them. Especially given that the pharmacies who follow this policy tend to be in rural areas where there are fewer providers available.

Cops have to enforce laws they may not agree with. Banks are not allowed to refuse loans to gays and lesbians, even if their loan officers are homophobes.

These business owners should be sued, or shut down, or both.

[pattio66]

Pharmacists dispense medications prescribed by a licensed professional. To not fill a legal prescription one finds distasteful should be grounds for immediate dismissal, a successful discrimination lawsuit, and permanent revocation of one's license to dispense medications, said revocation being transferable from state to state so that they can't go spew their misogyny over the closest border. If the refuser happens to be the owner of the pharmacy, his or her business license should be permanently revoked. Dontcha worry, once these "pharmacists" see that their source of income is threatened, they'll start dispensing contraceptives.

[ICanHasDemocracy]

Welcome to Amerika. Brought to you by the Christian Coalition and Fascism R Us.

( just for the record am a Christian and don't consider those fundie retards to be followers of Christ's message- they're cultie sheep following electric blue shepherds in arena sized telechurches)

[meanguy]

fascism would be FORCING a store owner to sell products he/she doesn't approve of

[Naithom]

I wonder, do these pharmacies sell viagra? And if they do, do they ask to see if you're married? They need to have a sign out front, "We cater to our belief systems, not your needs."