Pharmacists Refusing to Sell Emergency Contraceptives
In Washington State, this is an issue that just won't fuckin’ DIE! Since Washington is one of the most liberal states in the country, this situation is probably worse in most other states.
Plan B is the name of the emergency birth control pill. It’s basically just a much much stronger version of the regular birth control pill. If taken within 72 hours after having sex, this pill prevents pregnancy. For rape and incest victims, this is a Godsend.
There have been quite a few cases where a devout Godfearing pharmacist (who obviously chose the wrong profession) expresses his devotion to Jesus by refusing to sell Plan B. This refusal is often accompanied by a sermon.
In Washington, the State Board of Pharmacy was about to pass a statewide regulation that would allow pharmacists to listen to their “moral” values by refusing to sell Plan B. Governor Christine Gregoire stepped in. She threatened to replace every member of the Board of Pharmacy if they didn’t require pharmacists to do their jobs (i.e. honor all valid prescriptions and leave their bigotry at home). The Board of Pharmacy complied. Case closed, right?
But then, U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton ruled that pharmacists’ religious freedoms were being violated. Pharmacists are once again free to turn away those wayward sluts who come in whining about birth control pills. And for some odd reason, conservatives didn’t go into their usual spewage about “activist judges” “legislating from the bench.”
Jim Ramseth is a local
How's this for irony: the Far Right has suddenly discovered workers’ rights. LOL. Hell has frozen over and pigs are flying.
Child laborers who work in sweatshops 18 hours a day — tough shit. People who work in dangerous conditions, are grossly underpaid, or get unjustly fired — pull yourself up by your bootstraps! But a pharmacist who has to put aside his “moral” “Christian” values and sell birth control pills to every trollop who darkens his doorway — NOOOO!!!!! This oppressed worker needs our help!
Here is a forum on this subject — some interesting comments.
cross-posted at Bring It On!
Labels: Christine Gregoire, Jim Ramseth, Judge Ronald Leighton, Plan B
posted by Tom Harper @ 3:11 PM
20 Comments:
I have no words. This makes me so mad. ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Sorry I can't be more articulate while foaming at the mouth here.
Candace: Yeah, it's infuriating all right. It's just another way for the Religious Right to reach another one of their tentacles into everybody's lives, while pretending to be fighting for the "rights" of pharmacists. Assholes.
I read your headline and immediately thought "this is STILL an issue?" Then I read your first sentence.
GROW THE FUCK UP WINGNUTS.
People have fucked, are fucking right now, and will always fuck because guess what? Fucking feels groovy. Deal with it. Fucking yikes.
I lived in WA for 4 years, so that is hard to believe. They are very open minded folks. But like Candace said, ARGGGHHHH!!!! I love how MEN think they have a right to make a decision about women's health issues. (Beyond using a condom that is)
ARGH!!!
Randal: I guess this issue will never die. It's a chance for wingnuts to pretend they're fighting for individual rights and religious freedom, even though they don't give a fuck about those things the rest of the time.
Anna: Washington has its share of crazies. Last year a school in Federal Way (a Seattle suburb) banned An Inconvenient Truth (the movie, not your blog :) ) just because one Biblethumping family complained about it. The school board actually voted for an agreement that they would only show the movie if they gave equal time to Adam and Eve and the Old Testament. Seriously.
at this point, all I can say is "WTF????"
Mike: Yup, WTF is my sentiments exactly.
I like anna's comment, she makes a great point Tom.
Man has no right to put his morals into this affair. Any pharmacist found doing such a thing should not be allowed to practice in that field.
Let's Talk: Absolutely. Pharmacists are part of the medical field. They have no right to let their whims and prejudices interfere with their duties to their patients/customers. Any pharmacist who refuses to honor a valid prescription for any reason should be disbarred.
This one makes my blood boil.
Mine too, Lizzy.
Hmm. I think we should all try this tactic at our respective jobs.
"Are you a Republican?"
"What?"
"Are you a Republican!?"
"Well, yes. Why?"
"Then on moral grounds, I refuse to assist you."
"That's outrageous!"
"I'm sorry, but it's against my ethical code. You understand."
it seems odd that these people would turn away someone who is wanting to spend money at their business. if you remind them that these "whores" will make them a profit, they'd be willing to set their bigotry aside.
Randal: Unfortunately, Republicans wouldn't catch the irony.
Illnoise: Usually that would be the case. But for religious fanatics, the one thing that trumps profit is the chance to act sanctimonious and morally superior.
Randal's comment was fucking brilliant. :-)
I find it VERY ironic that these same Bible-thumping pharmacists find it immoral to fill Plan B or regular birth-control-pill prescriptions because OH MY GOD! Somebody might be FUCKING!, but then will fill ANY old Xanax or Oxycontin prescription when ANYONE walks in, even though OH MY GOD! Somebody might be ADDICTED!!!!
Bunch of assholes.
Miss Kitty: And no doubt they'd never refuse to fill a Viagra prescription. Too many decent Christian men would rise up (pardon the expression) in fury, without sensing a trace of irony.
You scared me with your first paragraph Tom.
Hyde will be praised for days for his trying to impeach Clinton, instead of being chastised for his corruption.
Larry: Yup, the wingnuts will be mourning and praising this asshole for a long time.
Bunch of assholes. This kind of thing makes my blood pressure go way up.
One of my daughter's friends goes to Reed College in Portland, OR. It is known for being a very radical, liberal school much populated by well-to-do kids. Anyway, they have a nude parade around the campus area every year in September, and my daughter's friend thinks they do this to make the conservative students so uncomfortable they'll just leave.
I think it's time for Oregon and Washington west of the Cascades and for northern coastal California to secede from the US. The area tends to be progressive for the most part, has close ties to Asian nations, and has the resources to be self-sufficient. Set things up with a lot of very liberal laws. Make the idiots so uncomfortable that they just leave, so the rest of us can live in peace. At least until they invade us with all their military might and put us in camps... heh...
Anna is right. What she said is a reason I think we need a lot more women in government making decisions for our society.
I think it is possible to be a Christian and to also be a pharmacist. If a faith-addled pharmacist is not yet addled enough to realize the world does not revolve around his or her own belief system and that other people might believe differently, the pharmacist should not have a problem with dispensing whatever is prescribed. The ones who have become too addled to function in their jobs need to be relieved of their duties so they can go out on the road as assistants to faith healers in tent revivals. Modern medicine is a science, and when these fools try to introduce magical thinking and superstitious thought into the science of medicine, I think they have truly lost their way.
Snave: There was a futuristic novel in the mid-'70s called EcoTopia. It was exactly what you're talking about. Western Washington and Oregon and the Northern California coast all seceded from the U.S. and formed their own nation. I never read the book but I heard a lot about it when it came out (I was living in Berkeley at the time).
But like you said, the biggest drawback is that we'd be invaded by the U.S.A. It would be "revealed" that we had Weapons of Mass Destruction, we'd be invaded, conquered and annexed, and we'd be back to Square One...
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