Kroger Company, a Cincinnati-based grocery chain, has said that their pharmacies must make emergency contraception available to women who request it.
"We believe that medication is a private patient matter," said Meghan Glynn, a Kroger spokeswoman. "Our role as a pharmacy operator is to furnish medication in accordance with the doctor's prescription or as requested by a patient."
The statement came on the heels of a campaign launched by pro-choice activists in Georgia, when a woman there was denied EC by a Kroger pharmacist.
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Kroger grocery stores have issued a statement saying that their pharmacies will make emergency contraception available as a matter of policy. White House political advisor Karl Rove has been implicated in the scandal surrounding the firing of eight U.S... Read More
Good for Kroger, and good for the activisits in Georgia who took the time to speak out - speaking out can really work!
This is great--and I love how the women who stood up to Kroger was the exact opposite of the "slutty teen" anti-choice stereotype: a married, 42 year-old mother of two who felt she was making the best choice for her and her family.
I know that Planned Parenthood is starting up a "Pill Patrol" campaign where you sign up at their website and get "assigned" to a specific pharmacy in your area (usually part of a big chain that is silent on the EC issue, like Target or Wal-Mart) and they give you a little script to follow while requesting EC. The goal is to get more stores to make EC available regardless of the feelings of certain pharmacists. Also, to prevent situations like what happened to this woman.
All of these are good steps towards making EC universally available. My mom and I talked about getting some EC to keep in the house just in case. I know for damn sure my parents don't want anymore kids, and don't want me or my brother's girlfriend turning up with them anytime soon either.
I have to say, I'm impressed. I've lived in Cincinnati for 3 years now and it's not the most, um, "forward-thinking" area of the country. In fact, it's so red that Bush did his last-big-hoopla-before-Election-Day event here in 2004.
So, cool. (Though I will keep my local PP phone number handy.)
Pharmacists who refuse to do their jobs and dispense medication to people with valid prescriptions should be fired. If they believe that it is immoral to dispense a medication that they are required to dispense, then they should resign their position and get another job. If you don't want to sell alcohol, then you shouldn't offer to work in a liquor store; if you don't want to dispense emergency contraception, don't work in a public pharmacy.