Yesterday, I posted a petition that over 70 groups signed opposing any rule changes that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription based on personal objections. It’d be like giving a waiter the right to refuse to serve a customer the cajun bacon cheese burger because the waiter is a strict vegetarian or because they keep kosher.

Anyway, the petition I posted yesterday was actually the petition that went to the Board of Pharmacy—not, as I said, to Governor Gregoire. I’ve attached a copy of the petition that went to Gregoire below. (Women and health advocates are worried that Governor Gregoire isn’t flexing her muscle on this issue.)

It’s the same as the petition that went to pharmacy board, except it includes a customized paragraph to Gregoire, challenging her to to walk her talk.

We applaud your strong and vocal commitment to access to health care but believe that this issue directly threatens your ability to make that commitment a reality. It is hard enough for many people to get the health care they need. This policy makes it even tougher.

Dear Governor:

We, the following undersigned organizations, urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that the Washington Board of Pharmacy does not adopt a rule that interferes with a patient's ability to obtain the medications that they need. We strongly believe that while a pharmacist's religious beliefs and personal values should be respected, it is unacceptable for pharmacists to impose their moral or ethical beliefs on the patients they serve.

Your help is needed to ensure that patients in Washington can access the drugs that they need, and that prescriptions are filled at the site where it was requested. Referring men and women to other pharmacies is not a satisfactory substitute -- many Washingtonians live in rural areas or small towns where there is no other pharmacy nearby. Men and women should not be sent out of the drugstore simply because the pharmacist does not wish to serve them.

We are a diverse group of organizations who work across the state to protect and promote the needs of women, men, youth, patients, minorities, rural areas and faith communities. This issue is of utmost important to all of us, and the policy that is decided by the Pharmacy Board will affect all of us.

We applaud your strong and vocal commitment to access to health care but believe that this issue directly threatens your ability to make that commitment a reality. It is hard enough for many people to get the health care they need. This policy makes it even tougher.

Please do everything in your power to ensure that the Pharmacy Board does not adopt a refusal policy that would make it even more difficult for Washingtonians to access the health care they need.

American Academy of Pediatrics, Washington Chapter
American Association of University Women
Aradia Women's Health Center
Aurora Medical Services
Blue Mountain Heart to Heart HIV/AIDS Organization
Cedar River Clinics-Tacoma, Renton, Yakima
Clergy Advisory Board of Planned Parenthood of Central Washington
CounterCrisis Northwest
Cowlitz Family Health Center
Ellensburg Bi-Mart
Equal Rights Washington
Family Planning Association of Chelan-Douglas Co.
Family Planning of Clallam County
Governor's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Washington
Interfaith Community Health Center, Bellingham WA
King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Lambda Legal
Law Students for Choice at the University of Washington
League of Women Voters of Washington
Lifelong AIDS Alliance
May Arkwright Hutton Democratic Women's Alliance/Agnes Kehoe Chapter, Spokane, WA

Medical Students for Choice at the University of Washington
Mother Baby Center, Bellingham WA
Mount Baker Planned Parenthood
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington
National Council of Jewish Women, Seattle Section
Northwest Health Law Advocates
Northwest Women's Law Center
Odyssey Youth Center
Okanogan Family Planning
Palouse HIV Coalition
Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane
People of Color Against AIDS Network
Pierce County AIDS Foundation
Planned Parenthood Network of Washington
Planned Parenthood of Central Washington
Planned Parenthood of the Columbia Willamette
Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest
Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest Faith in Action Committee
Planned Parenthood of Western Washington
Polylang Translation Services, Inc.
Pride Foundation
Pride Foundation/Inland Northwest
Program for Appropriate Technology in Health
Puyallup United Methodist Church Puyallup, WA
Radical Women
Real Change
Seattle Chapter Hadassah
Seattle Metropolitan Elections Committee
Sexual Assault Center of Pierce County
Sid's Professional Pharmacy, Pullman
Spokane AIDS Network
Spokane Chapter of Inland Northwest Older Women's League
Spokane Women's Coalition
VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood at Washington State University
Walla Walla County Democrats
Walla Walla Friends Meeting (Quaker)
Washington Association of Churches
Washington Citizen Action
Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs
Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs
Washington State Council on Family Planning
Washington State Labor Council
Washington State National Organization for Women
Washington State University Department of Women's Studies
Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition
Young Democrats of Whitworth College
YWCA of Bellingham
YWCA of Yakima