# They're coming for your Plan-B **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 23, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711 "2012-02-23T06:24:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/81 "2012-02-23T19:55:33Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I think there is an easy solution. If you run a pharmacy and want to use your personal philosophy to choose what to stock then you should be proud enough to say so, in big letters on your front door. > > Every customer, coming through your front door, deserves to know you made this choice, when choosing whether or not to frequent your business. If you want to make this issue a platform for your political stand then you should be proud enough, of that choice, to publish it on your front door. > > I humbly submit this issue would then resolve itself. So what if a pharmacy runs out of jock itch cream? Do they have to put that on the marquee out front? How large does the sign have to be? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/82 "2012-02-23T20:00:10Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > How to pharmacies actually work, though? I mean, generally, you don’t go to a pharmacist in a pharmacy, you go to a pharmacist in CVS or Walgreens or something. Are they independent practitioners renting floor space, are they company owned, is CVS a franchise… lots of funny questions here in this regard. CVS and Walgreens employs pharmacists. There are very few independent pharmacists left, they get bought out. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/83 "2012-02-23T20:11:11Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > You know some of these drugs can kill you if taken in the wrong combinations or dosages, right? You can get killed walking your doggie. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/84 "2012-02-23T20:13:45Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > You know some of these drugs can kill you if taken in the wrong combinations or dosages, right? And heavens, have you heard what can happen to people who drink bleach! Best remove that from the shelves at CVS too. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/85 "2012-02-23T20:47:59Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Oh I’m sorry, is this a five minute argument, or the full half hour? > There is a very large difference between asking that a medication is kept in stock vs. compelling a person to make house calls. > > No where did the law, nor I claim that, it was a fiction created in order to improve your argument. > > A has position X. > B presents position Y which is a distorted version of X. > B attacks position Y. > Therefore X is false. > > Strawman > > An intentional choice to not stock a medication due to non-business is an intentional act to deprive service. > > They may have that right, we will see once this moves up, this was only a District Judge. How is not stocking the medicine due to choice differ from not stocking the medicine for cost effectiveness compare? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/86 "2012-02-23T20:53:28Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Suppose the licensing board requires that pharmacists stock Plan B. I’m wondering how you enforce it. > > What do you do to the guy who just has “trouble” ordering it and keeping it in stock? > > What do you do to the guy who always has plenty in stock but charges $1,000 per dose? > > Are either of those guys in compliance in with the licensing requirement? No. Fire them both and ban them from the industry. > [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Why isthat the forced-to-stock laws are only news when it’s about contraceptives/abortives? Because that’s the only category of medicine that anyone is trying to use as a tool of persecution at the moment, at least on a big enough scale that it’s made the news. > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Then the state can provide the medication. It can’t force private citizens to violate their religious beliefs to fulfill the state’s interest. It can and does. You don’t get to starve your children because God tells you to, or to do all sorts of other things. Religion stops being a private matter when you impose it on others. Especially when you are in a position of government enforced privilege in the first place. > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It’s precisely the claim freedom-haters put forth. Ah, “freedom-haters”. Because the freedom of religious scum is the only freedom that counts. Women should be good little slaves and submit. _They_ don’t deserve freedom. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Taking and refusing to return a prescription is illegal unless it is a controlled substance and the pharmacist has confirmed with the prescribing physician that the prescription is fake. The pharmacist can also refuse to fill a prescription for any controlled substance if she cannot confirm that prescription with the prescribing physician but she CANNOT take and keep a prescription for an over the counter morning after pill. That won’t stop them from doing it anyway. And a state that supports this kind of religious bigotry isn’t likely to prosecute him for it. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > They’re not really pro-life (or anti-choice) so much as they are anti-abortion. No, they are anti-woman; they don’t care about abortion or the fetus except as clubs to beat on women. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > You know some of these drugs can kill you if taken in the wrong combinations or dosages, right? So can being denied medicine you need or given the wrong medicine because the pharmacist is a religious bigot. If the pharmacist can do his job according to religion instead of science, the reason the job exists in the first place vanishes. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/87 "2012-02-23T21:35:05Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > CVS and Walgreens employs pharmacists. There are very few independent pharmacists left, they get bought out. I can think of at least 3 within 15 miles of where I live. There are probably others I don’t know about. Got a cite for that “very few” left? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/88 "2012-02-23T22:21:03Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > OMG: > > I’m talking about why pharmacists think it is acceptable to deny time sensitive treatment. It’s not a ‘treatment’, as pregnancy is a normal state. You don’t treat ‘normal’. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/89 "2012-02-23T22:24:50Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > It’s not a ‘treatment’, as pregnancy is a normal state. You don’t treat ‘normal’. Pregnancy is normal for animals used for breeding. Human women are not such beasts. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/90 "2012-02-23T22:35:04Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > For example, do you think hotels or restaurants should have the right to refuse to allow blacks? This is less like a hotel “refusing to allow blacks” and more like a hotel “refusing to provide B.E.T on the cable line up” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/91 "2012-02-23T22:37:40Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > It’s not a ‘treatment’, as pregnancy is a normal state. You don’t treat ‘normal’. It’s normal to be in horrible pain after severe injuries; we treat that with anesthetic. It’s normal for our hair to grow until it stops; we cut it instead. We “treat normal” all the time. > [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > This is less like a hotel “refusing to allow blacks” and more like a hotel “refusing to provide B.E.T on the cable line up” No; this is more like refusing antibiotics to black people or AIDS drugs to homosexuals because you think God hates them. ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/92 "2012-02-23T23:22:54Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Is the Plan B drug especially dangerous? Just sell it over the counter, already. Plan B is not a Legend drug, or a medication that requires a prescription. It is essentially an OTC. The FDA mandated an age restriction on the product. Therefore it is kept behind the counter because the pharmacy must determine if the person purchasing the medication is old enough. Anyone with a valid form of ID showing they are 17 or older can walk in and buy Plan B. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/93 "2012-02-23T23:27:32Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > I understand this is your concern. I don’t understand _why_ this is your concern. Are you making an analogy from some other kind of professional group where such infractions result in a loss of license? (Which?) Or where the possibility of such infractions actually renders it impossible to regulate? I wondering if a “must stock” rule is enforceable. If not, then what’s the point of having one? If all I have to do to avoid selling it is to stock it but mark the price at some outrageous level, then the “must stock” rule is a farce. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/94 "2012-02-23T23:52:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wondering if a “must stock” rule is enforceable. Of course it is, the government enforces far more complex laws all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/95 "2012-02-24T00:41:42Z")
I love the pretense that a woman will always be able to get Plan B medication somewhere in a timely manner, so that having Conscience Pharmacists denying her the prescription at their shop won’t matter. Odd then that this is a big issue for the anti-abortion rights crowd. If this becomes enough of a problem it will hasten the day when Plan B is available over the counter. Then the anti-abortion rights activists who say now that it’s no big deal will have to scurry around to all the drug and discount stores that stock it, to emphasize what a big deal it isn’t. Or in the Republic of Santorum, we could at least mandate that anyone buying Plan B would have to view a video showing graphic images of miscarriages, anyone purchasing Viagra would have to see a video on the destructiveness of sex out of wedlock and adultery etc. It’s just the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/96 "2012-02-24T00:44:34Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > If this becomes enough of a problem it will hasten the day when Plan B is available over the counter. It already is, provided you’re over 17. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/97 "2012-02-24T01:20:21Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wondering if a “must stock” rule is enforceable. If not, then what’s the point of having one? If all I have to do to avoid selling it is to stock it but mark the price at some outrageous level, then the “must stock” rule is a farce. When you ask a machine shop to quote a job, and they don’t want to do it, they make the price totally unreasonable. It’s a tried and true tradition. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/98 "2012-02-24T01:25:51Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I love the pretense that a woman will always be able to get Plan B medication somewhere in a timely manner, so that having Conscience Pharmacists denying her the prescription at their shop won’t matter. Odd then that this is a big issue for the anti-abortion rights crowd. > > If this becomes enough of a problem it will hasten the day when Plan B is available over the counter. Then the anti-abortion rights activists who say now that it’s no big deal will have to scurry around to all the drug and discount stores that stock it, to emphasize what a big deal it isn’t. Well, it would be OTC right now if Obama hadn’t blocked that move back in December. **erislover** : I really don’t know what it is you don’t understand. I’m wondering, for all those people who think pharmacists should be forced to carry Plan B, if there was a trivial way for them to subvert such a rule. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/99 "2012-02-24T01:35:16Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > **erislover** : I really don’t know what it is you don’t understand. I’m wondering, for all those people who think pharmacists should be forced to carry Plan B, if there was a trivial way for them to subvert such a rule. That’s all. There are trivial ways to subvert most rules… once or twice. This does not make them unenforceable. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711/100 "2012-02-24T02:01:40Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I love the pretense that a woman will always be able to get Plan B medication somewhere in a timely manner, so that having Conscience Pharmacists denying her the prescription at their shop won’t matter. Odd then that this is a big issue for the anti-abortion rights crowd. > > If this becomes enough of a problem it will hasten the day when Plan B is available over the counter. Then the anti-abortion rights activists who say now that it’s no big deal will have to scurry around to all the drug and discount stores that stock it, to emphasize what a big deal it isn’t. > > Or in the Republic of Santorum, we could at least mandate that anyone buying Plan B would have to view a video showing graphic images of miscarriages, anyone purchasing Viagra would have to see a video on the destructiveness of sex out of wedlock and adultery etc. > > It’s just the right thing to do. There is no pretense, it is clear that in a very small number of cases it will be a problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theyre-coming-for-your-plan-b/613711.md?page=6)