Life-Choice battlefield has moved
According to yesterday's Times to the local pharmacy.
Locally, according to the Planned Parenthood Missouri Monitor, Schnucks may have chosen a side.
Patient Protection Act is a "must pass" in Missouri... One woman's story.
An unavoidable accident occurred where I needed Emergency Contraception (EC). I believe this product should be available over the counter because it's difficult and not always possible to get a prescription on time. I THOUGHT I was lucky enough to get a prescription from my OBGYN but it turns out that my regular pharmacy refused to fill it. The woman who worked there said that this pharmacy was not allowed to fill prescriptions for EC.
I inquired into the reasoning behind this refusal and she merely stated that "we are not allowed to talk about that." The complexity of my feelings can be adequately summarized in words like 'enraged' and my complex and changing attitude towards democracy and patriotism can be adequately summarized with words like 'disillusioned,' 'let down,' 'excluded.' This is an egregious violation of my rights to choice and legal health care.
My awareness that many women endure even greater tribulations from being refused a legal prescription for EC makes my own experience even more painful. As unjustified as my experience was, I was luckier than many other women because I had the ability to go to a neighboring pharmacy just a mile away. While the fact that an urban pharmacy in the Schnucks supermarket on Clayton refuses legal prescriptions is surprising, it is likely that I will be able to find a sympathetic pharmacy in such a densely populated area...
Jennifer B., St. Louis, MO
Talk about self-centered. Could the words "my" and "I" have possibly appeared any more?
This is a big issue and bigger than any one of us individually. Clearly the author doesn't understand that.
Posted by Becker on Wed., Apr 20, 2005 at 7:56 AMI challenge you to give a personal account without using the words "my" and "I".
Anyway, before we jump to conclusions maybe someone should follow up with Schnucks corporate. The person she talked to wasn't indicated as a pharmicist, and she didn't ask to speak to anyone else.
Posted by Matt B on Wed., Apr 20, 2005 at 10:08 AMThe unclear part of the story is what form the EC is in. If it is the morning after pill specifically, then the ph*rmacy should have a right to stock what pharmaceuticals it chooses. We don't force Catholic hospitals to provide contraception.
However, if it is a specific dose of birth control, this is wrong. If a ph*rmacy stocks a particular pharmaceutical, the dosage and medical concerns are between a doctor and a patient. There may be risk factors that a pharmacist is unfamiliar in a potential pregnancy, it might be a rape, it could be any number of other issues as well.
If the ph*rmacy stocks a pharmaceutical, they should dispense it as prescribed. If they choose not to carry the pharmaceutical that is their business. In such a case they should return the prescription or pass it along to anther ph*rmacy. This is the rule in Illinois now and it's entirely reasonable.
Posted by ArchPundit on Wed., Apr 20, 2005 at 11:35 AM
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