Letter to PSU Collegian
The Collegian, my university's student newspaper ran an editorial this week about the Target pharmacists' refusal to dispense emergency contraception. The editorial came out in favor of women's rights, which relieved me, but they hadn't done research about previous cases where emergency contraception and birth control were denied to patients. Instead, they proposed denial of birth control as dark future possibility. So I wrote a letter to the editor tonight that I've been meaning to write since I read the original article. Since I have a manuscript to write nothing else to do at this hour.
Thursday's editorial ("Plan B prescription policy for Target's pharmacists violates women's rights," Dec. 1) belies the scope of the problem of pharmacists who refuse to fill valid prescriptions. Stories have been appearing in the national news in the last five years with increasing frequency about pharmacists’ refusal to fill prescriptions for both birth control and emercency contraception. I value pharmacists' expertise and extensive education; however, the moral case for refusing these prescriptions is weak. Hormonal contraception works by preventing ovulation: with no egg cell, the possibility of fertilization (and subsequent “abortion”) is infinitessimal.
A pharmacist should not deny a medication which poses no threat to the patient’s wellbeing and frequenty improves her quality of life. The 30% of women of childbearing age who use hormonal birth control have a host of legitimate reasons for making that choice, among them the number and timing of children and treatment for debilitating reproductive disorders. My grandmother raised 11 children; her lifestyle was unappealing to most women 50 years ago and remains an unpopular choice today. Further, 10% of women are brutalized by rapists (regardless of how they dress or behave) and don’t want to bear their attacker’s children.
Many argue that a woman can go someplace else, but WalMart, frequently the only pharmacy in smaller towns, refuses to stock Plan B as a corporate policy. Fortunately PSU students can get prescriptions written and filled at University Health Services. We need to remember, though, that many women have nowhere else to go.
This may be the best response to the overall problem. Direct action!
If you're interested in writing Target about their policy, their pharmacy contact form is linked here. I'll be writing them when it isn't 5.30a.
Thursday's editorial ("Plan B prescription policy for Target's pharmacists violates women's rights," Dec. 1) belies the scope of the problem of pharmacists who refuse to fill valid prescriptions. Stories have been appearing in the national news in the last five years with increasing frequency about pharmacists’ refusal to fill prescriptions for both birth control and emercency contraception. I value pharmacists' expertise and extensive education; however, the moral case for refusing these prescriptions is weak. Hormonal contraception works by preventing ovulation: with no egg cell, the possibility of fertilization (and subsequent “abortion”) is infinitessimal.
A pharmacist should not deny a medication which poses no threat to the patient’s wellbeing and frequenty improves her quality of life. The 30% of women of childbearing age who use hormonal birth control have a host of legitimate reasons for making that choice, among them the number and timing of children and treatment for debilitating reproductive disorders. My grandmother raised 11 children; her lifestyle was unappealing to most women 50 years ago and remains an unpopular choice today. Further, 10% of women are brutalized by rapists (regardless of how they dress or behave) and don’t want to bear their attacker’s children.
Many argue that a woman can go someplace else, but WalMart, frequently the only pharmacy in smaller towns, refuses to stock Plan B as a corporate policy. Fortunately PSU students can get prescriptions written and filled at University Health Services. We need to remember, though, that many women have nowhere else to go.
This may be the best response to the overall problem. Direct action!
If you're interested in writing Target about their policy, their pharmacy contact form is linked here. I'll be writing them when it isn't 5.30a.