Hi everyone.

I just read a story about a woman who needed to get Plan B and since it is now available over the counter, she went to her local pharmacy to buy it. The pharmacist refused to sell it, and she was unable to find it anywhere else. When the pharmacist was questioned, he said he didn't sell it because he didn't believe in killing a baby. I heard that a pharmacist has the right to do this as long as he tells the lady where she CAN purchase it. I do not want a moral debate here.. not asking if it's right or wrong- just want to know if this is true?!

Yes, unfortunately this is true! Close to my hometown, there was a story within the last year of a pharmacist that wouldn't fill a prescription for birth control because it was against his beliefs. The woman even tried explaining to him that she was on the pill for medical reasons and he still wouldn't fill it. She contacted an attorney regarding this only to find that there was literally nothing she could do about it.

Yeah I'm afraid this is true. I used to work in a pharmacy and I've worked with several people who won't supply it. I think it was the only way they could make selling it off prescription legal without too much outcry from some pharmacists.

Yup. Basically: no pharmacy is under any legal obligation to stock or sell products they don't want to.

There are some pharmacies that stupidly believe that Plan B somehow works differently than regular birth control pills (they don't) and actually end an already-started pregnancy (not true). So they don't stock the product.

So that's why I boycott certain stores (e.g. Walmart). They might have the right to express their (erroneous*) beliefs through their stocking practices, but I also get to express mine through my shopping practices, lol.

*They won't sell Plan B, but they do sell regular BCP, which work the exact same way. Kind of hipocritical, IMO.

Funny you say Walmart, because that's the store this story occured at!

Funny you say Walmart, because that's the store this story occured at!I thought it might be... there's been a call to boycott that store for years over this. You'd think they'd have figured out by now that ECP and BCP work the same way and it's stupid to sell one but not the other. Of course, then they might just stop selling regular birth control pills!

IMO, there's something just inherently wrong with trying to force (their idea of) 'morality' on people by denying them birth control. As if that'll do it, lol!

That's interesting. I don't see why those people are allowed to work in pharmacies if they won't provide the public with certain medications. That's just ridiculous. They need to quit trying to impose their beliefs onto others, seriuosly.
I didn't know that they actually sell it at pharmacies though. Just last year my friend needed the morning after pill because she and her boyfriend were only using condoms at the time (and it broke)...
I was advised by the Planned Parenthood ladies to go to the emergency room if their offices are closed for any reason. Of course this happened over a weekend when Planned Parenthood offices just happened to be closed, so we didn't know where else to go but to the emergency room.
We went to one where they directed us to go to a different one, than we went to the other one and they did the exact same thing. It's just ridiculous ridiculous that they can't supply people with this type of stuff. I thought that's what they're supposed to do. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't help simply because they didn't want to.

I agree with you Moonlight. Pharmacists should get educated like Thisby said. They should learn that the morning after pill works just like normal birth control (just at a higher dosage), and if they carry one they should carry the other. It is absurd. In the process of denying this medication, they are inhibiting the woman's right to choose! I'm lucky I have access to planned parenthood, because I don't want to go on a wild goose chase for medicine that is legal and my right to access.

Sometimes it's not up to the individual pharmacist. Walmart has a policy that every store has to follow: No Plan B. They don't stock it and the person behind the counter has no say. (Thus the boycott.)

There is a work-around though and Planned Parenthood has a chart that shows the correct dosage of regular birth control pills that you need for them to act as emergency contraceptive pills. So even if the pharma won't sell Plan B, they will still sell regular BCP which, with the help of the chart, you can use as ECP. ;)

Yeah alot of this happens...

I was a bartender for 10 years and i had every right to refuse pregant women. Although this never happened. no one that was pregnant ever asked for a drink but i would think when working for a pharmacy they should ask you before hiring whether or not they are willing to provide the medication asked for. To me it sounds a bit illegal because of being medications that people need...Strange world we got here

i would think when working for a pharmacy they should ask you before hiring whether or not they are willing to provide the medication asked for.In this case, it is the pharmacy that refuses to sell it, not the individual pharmacist. I'm sure they told the pharmacist very clearly that it isn't stocked - and he can't sell what they don't carry.