political ethics question

[firecat]

Today Plan B, the emergency contraception medicine, was approved by the FDA for sale over the counter. Yay! (Only to women 18 and over. Boo!)

I have been boycotting Walgreens and Target because they were allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for Plan B. (See http://www.saveroe.com/fillmypillsnow/scored).

Boycotting Walgreens is actually a bit of a sacrifice because it's my within-walking-distance open-24-hours store and it's right next to Trader Joe's where I frequently shop...without Walgreens, if I want a drugstore thing I have to plan a special trip.

So I'm considering not boycotting Walgreens any more, at least until they do something else I don't approve of.

On the other hand, they didn't actually change their policy, the problem got resolved another way (and the women under 18 might still have problems getting Plan B from Walgreens).

What would you do under the circumstances, and why?

Comments

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

One thing you could probably do pretty easily would be to ask the head pharmacist directly if she would fill a doctor's prescription for it (chances are YES because we live in California) and if she has written or called the home office recently to express her thoughts. Or consider writing a real letter to Walgreens and asking for a response.

Regardless of which way you go, it's not clearly ethical or unethical one way or another... it's a matter of degree. If you had two choices, equally convenient, then you could make a choice with little or no sacrifice to lend a small amount of support to the boycott's impact. But if the inconvenience to you far outweighs the impact you would be able to have on the corporation, neither choice is clearly "best".

[firecat]

Walgreens is already on record for allowing their pharmacists to refuse to dispense prescriptions that are against their religious beliefs. This usually means only Plan B, but some pharmacists refuse to dispense birth control pills, too.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I think their leaving the door open like that means I'm going to have to continue to boycott them. It's not just Plan B for me, though of course I'm happy it's more available now.