Politics is so inconvenient

[firecat]

Planned Parenthood's http://www.saveroe.com/fillmypillsnow/ web site reports that Walgreens is among the pharmacies that allow their pharmacists to refuse to dispense prescriptions they don't personally approve of (this universally means prescriptions for birth control or emergency contraception).

According to the web site, the other pharmacies known to attack women's rights in this manner are Rite Aid, Target, Wal-Mart, and Winn Dixie.

I'm very annoyed at losing the convenience of being able to shop at my local 24 hour Walgreens.

Maybe I'll get a job at a steakhouse, claim to be an ethical vegetarian, and refuse to sell/serve any dishes with meat. That would take less time than going to pharmacy school just so I can become a pharmacist and refuse to dispense Viagra.

Comments

[kshandra]

I'm glad I transferred my scrips to Costco....

[firecat]

All but one of mine are currently with a mail-order pharmacy; the one in question goes to Costco next time I have to fill it.

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

FWIW, the Long's in Sequoia Station is open 24 hours.

[firecat]

Good to know, thanks...

[ailbhe]

They are allowed to refuse to prescribe hormone control? I mean, the morning after pill is one thing - some people think that falls under the pro-life vs pro-choice thing - but controlling whether or not people like me are functional 2 weeks out of 4 seems excessive religious zeal.

Go work in a steakhouse. PLEASE. Augh.

(Also, am excessively annoyed that I can't seem to post to current a.p feminism thread in which I commented on my card-sending duties as it is making me RAGE RAGE RAGE).

[firecat]

According to the web site, Target only allows pharmacists to refuse to dispense the morning after pill. But there are other reports of other pharmacies refusing to dispense other kinds of birth control.

I'm not OK with the refusing to dispense the morning after pill. I mean, if a pharmacy decides not to carry it, that's one thing, but to carry it and allow an individual pharmacist to refuse to dispense it, but making a woman think that she can get it and then have to go to another pharmacy within the short window where the pill is effective - that is just harrassment.

Sorry about the posting problems. It's a terribly annoying thread, isn't it?

[ailbhe]

Um, wow, so a pharmacist is allowed to refuse the MAP *even when the woman has no alternative*? without, like, a huge sign on the door saying "No contraception here, emergency or otherwise"? Do these people refuse to sell condoms, too?

[usqueba.livejournal.com]

They are allowed to refuse to prescribe hormone control?

That's what I was wondering. For me, birth control was a happy bonus, it wasn't the primary or even secondary reason I was taking hormones.

What if I brought a note from my doctor? :P

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

And we *need* you over there, too. What an annoying thread. I've actually dropped 2 of those guys into my killfile, 'til I can regain my composure.

[leback.livejournal.com]

I have mixed feelings on the annoyingness of threads like that. The upside is that the nitwits wind up drawing a lot of really brilliant stuff out of some of the people responding to them.

Pity it's not having that effect on ailbhe, though.

[cheshyre]

*Grumble*

And I'm on a health care plan which *only* reimburses prescriptions filled thru Walgreens...

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I wonder if I could become a pharmacist an refuse to dispense weight loss drugs. I've already got Intro. to Pharmacology.

Wasn't Winn Dixie a dog from a recent Disney movie or something?

[figmo.livejournal.com]

The dog in the movie was named after the supermarket chain, IIRC, because he was found at one.

[firecat]

Now THERE'S an idea.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

I also noticed Longs and Costco not on the list.

I can only hope most Walgreens pharmacists won't practice that.

[firecat]

Costco is on the list of pharmacies that has explicitly said they will not allow the practice. Longs is on a list of pharmacies whose policy is unknown.

There is pending California legislation to ban such behavior.

[loracs.livejournal.com]

I'd be more upset, since I'm been using Walgreens for years now and I love the 24 hour and drive through convenience, but in Jan. I start Kaiser. There will be no moral dilemma because I'll only be able to get them through Kaiser's pharmacy.

But that just sucks.

[firecat]

Yeah, I'd be a lot more upset if I were still getting all my meds from Walgreens. At this point I'm more upset about the loss of the nearby convenience store.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Must link to this.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

It's times like this when I thank heavens that my primary care physician is based in a clinic with its own pharmacy, and whose staff are entirely pro-choice. And that they're covered by my insurance plan.

[ona-tangent.livejournal.com]

I thought Walgreens just suspended/fired pharmacists for failing to fill e/c...?

[firecat]

Here (search for Walgreen) is a report that some pharmacists were "placed on unpaid leave" for refusing same. This is because of an Illinois law passed in August. This article states that Walgreens will help the pharmacists relocate to a state that doesn't have such a law, so Walgreens clearly is fine with pharmacists refusing to dispense prescriptions - unless it threatens their pharmacy license, as it does in Illinois.

In Austin it also required a government action.

[ckd]

Aaaaaaand one more reason I continue to patronize my local independent pharmacy.

(And as a PS to those "pro life" folks...you work in a store that sells cigarettes. Do you refuse to sell those, too? My pharmacy doesn't sell cigarettes, or snack food, or any of those ancillary potentially harmful things that Walgreens et al are happy to dispense.)

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

Now why won't the doctors/nurses give out the morning after pills in clinic? That's what they did when I was a student -- along with an anti-nausea chaser so you could keep 'em down.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

Shit! Thanks for the heads-up. I don't shop at the other places, but I did shop at Walgreen's. Sigh.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

Well, the excuse the bastards use is that BC pills may, in some cases, prevent a fertilized ovum from implanting. This is an abortion. To their minds. And abortion, QED, is wrong, so they can't sell those pills.

I assume selling condoms is ok unless they're Catholic. Condoms, after all, are under the MAN's control.

MKK