“We’re not making it illegal to vote in this state if you’re black; we’re saying people of ALL races whose grandfathers couldn’t vote before 1865 cannot vote!”
Look, I support property rights, so as much as I’m pro-birth control and not part of the anti-woman lunacy cult known as the Republican Party, I also support the rights of pharmacies to choose to not stock certain medications, even if that is discriminatory in effect. But my core political orientation is an intolerance of bullshit. Saying that contraceptives are a gender-neutral medication is bullshit, just as much as saying that the government forcing pharmacists to violate their religious beliefs is not even a concern is also bullshit.
The difference there is that the goal of your quote is to prevent blacks from voting. It’s not to prevent voting itself, but only blacks. The race part is key. On the other hand, the goal of the pharmacy thing is to stop Plan-B from being distributed. The fact that this only affects women’s pregnancies (not simply “women”, btw) is tangential to the effort, despite what Der Trihs alleges.
The problem is that such a policy (not stocking Plan-B) does not stop women from shopping at the pharmacy, as evidenced by the probable fact that a substantial portion of their clientele are women. Not stocking Plan-B affects some women, but I fail to see how not catering to the wants of some women (and probably men) constitutes some form of discrimination against women in general.
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.
No, the fact that Plan B is a medication which allows women to choose whether or not to become pregnant is in no way “tangential;” it’s the core of the issue.
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.
Well, I’m okay with tamper-proof packaging and putting it behind the counter like condoms or cigarettes - I was just wondering why this is a controlled substance in the first place. Is it even as dangerous as, say, Tylenol?
Already sold OTC in Europe and several US states, magically no negative side effects ever reported, just fewer unwanted pregnancies, fewer abortions, etc… not only are Republicans against this, Obama’s own HHS secretary nixed an FDA recommendation to lower the nationwide age for OTC access to 16.
This would be as if the hotel didn’t carry porn on pay per view even if a lot of people wanted it. Its not like they are selling Plan-B to married women and denying it to single women. They don’t carry it for anyone.
The analogy to the contraception requirement would be more appropriate if money wasn’t so damn fungible.
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.
As for me, I think that your mentality is a step or two away from forcing an obstetrician who only performs D&E for miscarriages and medical issues to perform elective abortions as well.
The only restriction that I have seen or heard of (and this may be a state thing rather thana federal thing) is that if you do not carry Plan B or you run out of Plan B, you must prominently display this fact on your pharmacy counter so that someone does not ask for it.