Pharmacists refusing to fill birth control prescriptions?

[squirrely girl]

ehhhhhhhhhhhh... i'm glad i'm on depo and i get it straight from the doctor's office. some people are just so misguided. a lot of women take BC to regulate hormones.

-marissa

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by Jill1228
I am not bashing men in the least. I don't care if the pharmacist is a man or a woman. They have NO RIGHT to hold a prescription for hostage. They don't know the client's situation or know them from Adam. If they feel uncomfortable about filling a prescription, give the person back their script and send them on their way. They need to keep their moral beliefs out of it!

Well-put, and right in line with the Hippocratic element of the thing.

Originally posted by Jill1228
I still stand by my point that these same pharmacist that would hold a BC script hostage would be the same ones that wouldn't have a problem filling an ED prescription. And that is a crock!

Not even close to valid - any support for this? Or are you just 'not bashing men in the least'?

[Jill1228]

Ya got a point there, KSig.

I don't know the Pharmacists personally but I admit you have to wonder about their motives and ways of thinking.


I know insurance coverage is different from the actual pharmacists, but the point is still the same that some insurance companies would not cover BC but would cover ED meds.

When I lived in Virginia, I had insurance thru my employer. However, I had to book an appointment about 2 months in advance (if you could get thru) at the City Health Dept because my insurance would not cover my pills. It was pretty much jumping through hoops and that should NOT happen.

[AOII_LB93]

Going into being a pharmacist you know that you might have to fill someone's BC prescription, so why if you are morally opposed to BC would you then become a pharmacist? Excuse me, but the last time I checked, it's none of the pharmacist's GD business what prescription I pick up. For the pharmacies that have condoms behind the counter, are they saying no to selling those too? Last time I checked it wasn't up to the pharmacist to tell me what I can and can't do with myself.

[aurora_borealis]

Originally posted by Jill1228
Ya got a point there, KSig.

I don't know the Pharmacists personally but I admit you have to wonder about their motives and ways of thinking.


I know insurance coverage is different from the actual pharmacists, but the point is still the same that some insurance companies would not cover BC but would cover ED meds.

When I lived in Virginia, I had insurance thru my employer. However, I had to book an appointment about 2 months in advance (if you could get thru) at the City Health Dept because my insurance would not cover my pills. It was pretty much jumping through hoops and that should NOT happen.

Jill~
I know we worked for the same company, and I think our insurance was the same (though your state is unionized, Alaska was not), and neither BC or ED was covered. However it stated in my benefits packet that those were available with documetation of need from the doctor. At least the plan was equal in that respect. There was a list of other meds that needed further documentation as well, weight loss aids being one of them.

What really irritated me is that we'd have to use the work pharmacy to get our drugs at a decent price, so it kind of made it harder to keep things as private as one liked. We had four locations in Anchorage, but the way people went between stores you never knew who would ring up your stuff. They pushed the mail order scrips big time, but it always came late or was messed up.

ETA: (Slightly OT) There was a point when the company Jill & I worked for was the only pharmacy in the STATE of Alaska that would carry Plan B (the morning after pill), and people tried a boycott. Just to put in perspective this is in a state where there was one Planned Parenthood, and only three doctors in the whole state would perform abortions, and all were located in Anchorage. There were plenty of pharmacies & pharmacists in Alaska that wouldn't carry or sell BC or Plan B, so there is no option of driving to another pharmacy or getting it by mail in a timely manner.

[citydogisu]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/...ill/index.html

Congress to consider birth control bill
Proposal would ensure pharmacies fill prescriptions

From Lindy Royce
CNN Washington Bureau
Thursday, April 14, 2005 Posted: 7:27 PM EDT (2327 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Reports of pharmacists with particular religious and moral beliefs denying prescriptions for birth control have prompted legislation that would ensure all prescriptions are filled.

House and Senate backers unveiled a bill dubbed the Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (ALPhA) on Thursday.

It would allow a pharmacist to refuse to fill a prescription only if the prescription can be passed to and filled by a co-worker at the same pharmacy.

According to NARAL Pro-Choice America, a reproductive rights group, legislators in 10 states are considering bills that would permit pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions. A federal law, if passed, would pre-empt any state law.

"What have we come to in this country?" Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat and House sponsor of the bill, said Thursday morning at a rally on Capitol Hill. "We are merely saying, 'let the laws in this country stand.' Let a woman be treated with dignity. When she has a prescription from her doctor, that privacy should be respected."

Yet some want additional legislation to protect pharmacists who believe certain birth control drugs are forms of abortion, Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life, told the Reuters news agency. The group provides legal advice and support to pharmacists.

Brauer told Reuters she believes doctors will eventually begin ordering women to abort disabled children, or refuse to treat them after birth.

"They'll force women to kill their children ... It will be like China. It's the next logical step," she told Reuters.

The American Pharmacists Association favors letting pharmacists follow their conscience, but says customers should have alternative means of getting prescriptions, spokeswoman Susan Winckler told Reuters.

"Nobody has a right to come between any person and their doctor," Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat and co-sponsor, said Thursday. "Today they might not fill prescriptions for birth control pills. Tomorrow it could be painkillers for a cancer patient. Next year it could be medicine that prolongs the life of a person with AIDS or some other terminal disease."

[AKA_Monet]

It is amazing to see that Big Pharma isn't as pissed off with this BC stuh as they would be if some idiot pharmacist did not fill a full paying customer's script for Cialis, Vitamin V, Levitra, etc...

Not saying that it has not happened, yet...

Just saying that the mentality of a lot of men is they rather die hard up in it, than poop out softly in the night...

And it would be interesting to see how the sales are doing for Birth Control... I bet Big Pharma ain't making that much money. Otherwise if they were, they would pitch a fit.

Maybe has to do with population size... We need more "Home Grown Americans"...

So, basically, ladies, y'all need to get your freak on and start crankin' out those babies!!!

EFF of a stable "nuclear family" with "father knows best"--we are marching you to the "Handmaid's Tale"...

[valkyrie]

Yet some want additional legislation to protect pharmacists who believe certain birth control drugs are forms of abortion, Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life, told the Reuters news agency. The group provides legal advice and support to pharmacists.

Brauer told Reuters she believes doctors will eventually begin ordering women to abort disabled children, or refuse to treat them after birth.

"They'll force women to kill their children ... It will be like China. It's the next logical step," she told Reuters.

Wow, slippery slope much? Next logical step my ass.

I'm assuming that this legislation would prohibit companies from firing pharmacists who refuse to dispense birth control. What a crock. If you don't want to dispense birth control, don't be a pharmacist, and if you have an employee who doesn't want to dispense birth control, fire him or her.

I think of it like this -- I'm a vegetarian, so I'm not about to go work at a job that would require me to serve meat. Seriously, DUH.

[AchtungBaby80]

Originally posted by valkyrie
If you don't want to dispense birth control, don't be a pharmacist, and if you have an employee who doesn't want to dispense birth control, fire him or her.

Exactly. This is pretty scary...and it's even worse that a woman is against pharmacists being required to fill birth control prescriptions.

[AGDee]

And some of these same people who won't dispense birth control think abortion is wrong and gripe about welfare moms who keep having babies.

[HelloKitty22]

Originally posted by valkyrie

If you don't want to dispense birth control, don't be a pharmacist, and if you have an employee who doesn't want to dispense birth control, fire him or her.

I think of it like this -- I'm a vegetarian, so I'm not about to go work at a job that would require me to serve meat. Seriously, DUH.

I totally sign on to that!

These pharmacists aren't just performing an act of protest. They are using their position and power to prevent women from doing something which they have the right to do. This isn't a freedom of religion issue. Freedom of religion is "you can't force me to do X." Freedom of religion is not "I'm going to take a job where I know they will want me to do X and when they ask I am not only going to refuse but I am going to twart all other people's attempts to do X." That is a direct interference with other people's rights. It's wrong.

And while I know Rudey is going to be pist for this comment, the truth is that if this was a man's issue, it would be taken a lot more seriously by the people who make the laws (who are also mostly men). The problem is that women are not harnessing their political and economic power strongly enough on this issue. I wrote to Walmart about this because they expressly allow their pharmacists to refuse to dispense BC or EC. They actually have a stock email which they write back. It basically says "this is they way we do it. If you don't like it, screw you. We don't want to hear it." But when you look down the asiles of a Walmart, you know what you see? WOMEN! Shopping everywhere. In this patronizing patriarchial store, the people who are shopping are women. If women don't stand up and admit that they want access to BC and EC, and not just for hormonal regulation , we aren't going to have any access. If you want to make a statement on these issues look into the places where you purchase stuff and ask yourself whether you really want your money going to a company that thinks that some random pharmacist should be able to override your constitutional right to BC.

[Jill1228]

Yeah, whazzup with that? You can't have it both ways

Originally posted by AGDee
And some of these same people who won't dispense birth control think abortion is wrong and gripe about welfare moms who keep having babies.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by AGDee
And some of these same people who won't dispense birth control think abortion is wrong and gripe about welfare moms who keep having babies.

And some don't?

-Rudey

[HappyKappy]

[b]Brauer told Reuters she believes doctors will eventually begin ordering women to abort disabled children, or refuse to treat them after birth.

"They'll force women to kill their children ... It will be like China. It's the next logical step," she told Reuters.[b/]

Man, what a funny guy. I could just imagine some doctor "ordering" a patient to have an abortion. At which point the patient would either laugh, or leave. Also, I'd like to see how long a doctor could keep his license for refusing to treat disabled children.

In addition, it's completely unreasonable to try to connect the infanticide of female babies in China to the US. Our society doesn't have a large value discrepancy between the sexes, so people wouldn't kill babies because they were of the undesirable sex. People might kill babies if they have too many of them, but I imagine that a parent would kill indiscriminently until the number of their offspring was equal to what they were willing or able to support. Now, if those parents who didn't want the babies had access to birth control, then maybe they would be saved the trouble of murdering their children and disposing of the bodies later. (Also, BC would save the government money on paying for maternity hospital bills or prosecution of baby-killers.)

[OrigamiTulip]

Originally posted by Jill1228
Pharmacists are regulated by state laws and can face disciplinary action from licensing boards. But the only case that has gotten that far involves Neil T. Noesen, who in 2002 refused to fill a University of Wisconsin student's birth control pill prescription at a Kmart in Menomonie, Wis., or transfer the prescription elsewhere. An administrative judge last month recommended Noesen be required to take ethics classes, alert future employers to his beliefs and pay what could be as much as $20,000 to cover the costs of the legal proceedings. The state pharmacy board will decide whether to impose that penalty next month.

From http://www.wxow.com/news/publish/art...cle_3079.shtml

Pharmacist Sought
La Crosse
Oct 24, 2005


A Wisconsin pharmacist, who made headlines when he refused to fill a prescription for birth control pills, is back in the news.

La Crosse County has issued a warrant for the arrest of 31 year old Neil Noesen whose last address is St. Paul.

Poice arrested Noesen in July after an incident at the Onalaska Wal Mart. Noesen was working as a temporary pharacist when he again refused to fill a birth control prescription. He created a disturbance when management asked him to leave the store, police were called and officers arrested him.

But, Noesen failed to show up for a court date last week and the warrant was issued. Three years ago, Noesen refused to fill a birth control prescription when he worked at a pharmacy in Menomonie.

His refusal led to an official reprimand from the state licensing board. Noesen says he is a devout Roman Catholic and that filling a birth control prescription would be a sin.