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Pharmacists refusing to fill birth control prescriptions written by qualified health care providers, based on personal and moral beliefs? Many women find it hard to fathom such a quandary. Could it be true that in the year 2005, some forty years after oral contraception was initially marketed, reproductive rights are yet again being challenged?

It has been seen all over the country, in companies as world renowned as Wal-Mart, which was among several pharmacies refusing women to obtain the pill in very recent years. Initially starting in 1996, when an Ohio woman was turned away by a Kmart pharmacist claiming to be following the 5th commandment, several incidents of the same nature have occurred, with similar claims of women’s use of the pill violating the employee’s individual religious beliefs. This case is still pending in federal court; however Kmart did not stop there. According to the Yurica Report, in the summer of 2002 a student in Menomonie, Wisconsin went into her local Kmart to get her prescription refilled, and was refused based upon the pharmacist’s concern that it may cause an abortion. He also denied informing her of her rights to have her prescription transferred elsewhere, which prevented the young woman from starting the medication on the first day of her cycle, increasing the chances of pregnancy. Following the first incident of this nature, numerous like cases stemming from 1996 until present have taken place, including the refusal of a rape victim to obtain emergency contraceptives to decrease her chances of pregnancy at an Eckerd Pharmacy in Denton, Texas. Such incidents have at last received the attention of the federal government, in particular Congressman Christopher Shays, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, and Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Debbie Wasserman-Schwartz.

In Washington this past April, according to www.citizen.org, Congressman Shays stated

"Make no mistake about this, the refusal to fill birth control prescriptions targets women and their choice of contraception, not men's, "I have no doubt that if pharmacists were refusing to sell men condoms that this issue would have already been addressed legislatively. Our legislation will require the pharmacies -the businesses employing the pharmacists- to provide a woman with access to legal forms of birth control."

This issue has raised eyebrows among women young and old, such as student Denisha Richardson who stated “I guess pharmacy companies should have the right to do what they want, but using birth control is a woman’s personal decision, no one else should have a say in that”. Despite the fact that women alike maintain their diverse opinions on the controversial issue, females on the other side of the pro-choice fence are also concerned, such as one self identified pro-life supporter who said “Contraception is contraception, not abortion.” In spite of efforts by concerned members of society, special interest organizations, and the federal government; extreme anti-choice activists affiliated with pharmacies are continuing to turn women away due to personal ethical conflicts, decisions that are supported by the Bush Administration, and their current efforts to abolish Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court’s decision that allows a woman’s legal right to have an abortion based on personal preference, passed in 1973. Also set to battle the efforts of such anti-choice activists is NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation’s leading advocacy organization for women’s reproductive rights, and has launched a campaign to stop the unfair refusal of birth control from pharmacies across the country.

Whilst influential members of society continue to come to blows on this multifaceted issue, only the months to come hold answers for those distressed and concerned with the future reproductive rights of American women. According to self-proclaimed concerned student and Citizen Quella Gomez, “I don’t think ones personal beliefs should ever be a factor in another’s choices, which is why we have the Constitution, why we live in a democracy and why we have laws... No one ever said "Land of the free, Home of what’s right in the eyes of religion”.

To get involved in the campaign concerning birth control rights, visit NARAL Pro-Choice: http://www.naral.org/

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