Let me tell you where you can shove that prescription

Reports of pharmacists refusing to fill legally-prescribed prescriptions for birth control, including emergency contraceptives, have surfaced in states across the nation, including California, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois (For those of you who live in Chicago, it was the wretched Osco Drugs on State Street, downtown. Boo Hiss!), Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington state and Wisconsin. These refusals to dispense prescription contraceptives appear to be based on a pharmacist's personal religious beliefs, not on legitimate medical or professional concerns about safety and the welfare of the customer.

The same pharmacists who refuse to dispense contraceptives because of their personal beliefs often refuse to hand a woman's prescription to another pharmacist on site or refer her to a different pharmacy. This further compounds their unprofessional action and seriously impedes the right of women to seek timely and safe prescriptions, especially when their whole physical, psychological and family planning future is at stake.

Women can only prevent unintended, unwanted, involuntary and criminal pregnancies if they have full access to contraception. Emergency contraception (EC) must be taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse to prevent a pregnancy, and the sooner it is taken the more effective it is. Trying to obtain EC within this time frame can be stressful for any woman, but particularly for a woman who has just survived being raped. Adding more obstacles while the clock is ticking is simply outrageous.

Only a woman, with the support of her spouse or partner, her family - and if she chooses, her medical and religious counselors - should determine the timing and spacing of her childbearing. It is also true that women rely on prescription contraceptives for a range of medical purposes, such as regulation of cycles and endometriosis. They should not have to explain this to pharmacists in order to pass their morality test.

It is arbitrary and discriminatory for pharmacists to refuse to dispense legally-prescribed birth control, holding the power over customers and delaying or preventing women from meeting their most basic health needs, including pregnancy prevention and treatment of various medical conditions. Pharmacist refusals are particularly burdensome to rural and low-income women, who may be unable to find or travel to another pharmacy to have their prescriptions filled without considerable hardship.

Source: National Organization for Women

Well, these pharmacists sure do give a whole new meaning to the word self-righteous. Oh if only the world could be just the way they want it. A world in which women fall into one of two categories: A) Barefoot and Pregnant or B) Chaste and Virginal. And in our free time we can knit and gossip about Mr. Lewis and Miss Thompson and have tea with biscuits. And then faint because our corsets are strung just a little too tight. Oh yes, that´s the world we should live in.

If these jackass Rx´s piss you off as much as they piss me off, you can take action and support the Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act at www.now.org.