The Ladies Plan B Debate
posted by on February 22 at 12:25 PM
This is worth checking out: Next Wednesday, Feb. 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at UW Medical Center, there’s going to be a panel discussion about the contention that pharmacists should have the right to refuse to dispense medication they don’t approve of. Last year, the state Board of Pharmacy adopted rules requiring pharmacies to fill prescriptions for all medications, including Plan B.
What’ll make the discussion interesting is the presence of panelist Donna Dockter—a former member of the Board of Pharmacy who pushed the “conscience clause”—and owner of Sand Point Clinic Pharmacy.
Dockter, whose pharmacy has never refused to dispense Plan B, is a liberal—I profiled her in a feature story I did on the debate in 2006. But her cantankerous arguments on behalf of dissident pharmacists challenge liberal conventional wisdom on the issue.
It was Dockter’s strong will on the issue—in private negotiations with the governor and women’s health care advocates in the fall of ‘06—that ratcheted back the health care advocates’ demands for sweeping regulations to force all pharmacists to comply with the pharmacy board’s rules.
Certainly, the state’s guidelines—now being challenged in court—guarantee that women can get supposedly controversial medication like Plan B—but the guidelines weren’t as stringent as the advocates originally wanted.
For example, a pharmacist who hates you for requesting Plan B can pass you off to a coworker.
Highly recommended.
Why does this have to be in the middle of the day? It sounds really interesting, too bad us 9-6ers are left out.
My previous doctor swapped me with his douchebag coworker. I think he got the impression that I was trying to get him to fuck me. Don't get me wrong, I was, but I thought I was being subtle about it. It sucks because this new guy can't shut up about HIV and has a burning desire to constantly take my blood.
Straight men aren't easy.
Pharmacists can't prescribe drugs, period. Interfering with a legal prescription from a doctor IS prescribing medicine without a license. Pharmacists who want to refuse legit prescriptions for ANYTHING should find a new line of work. Maybe sweeping out their church.
Poe, straight men are astonishingly easy, as any straight woman can testify.
"a pharmacist who hates you"...?
Naw, they don't hate you for being prescribed Plan B, they just think you're a slut.
@4 - yeah, we're basically sluts.
But what if you slept with the pharmacist and he doesn't want to give you the Plan B?
Question: Who needs to be prescribed Plan B, now that it's over-the-counter? Is that just so insurance will cover it? When I've gone to get it (at the Bartell's in lower Queen Anne) they've always been very nice. I'm thankful to have the benefit of big-city pharmacists.
@7 It's not that Plan B is a prescribed medication. It's that it's a behind-the-counter medication and some pharmacists are refusing to stock it (like Stormans in Olympia) or sell it if they have it. You don't need to have a prescription to be refused.
@8: Refusing to sell it while having it seems ludicrous, and if they don't stock it and are asked to fill a prescription they should have to order and fill it, but not stocking it or providing it when asked for without a prescription seems... within the rights of a private business. I'm obviously pro-Plan B, and think it should be available to everyone, but if all pharmacies aren't required to stock all "behind-the-counter" medication, it seems odd to require them to stock this one.
Jess is correct @8. The problem is more if you live in a place where there's only one pharmacy open, and the next one is 200 miles away.
And the open pharmacy won't stock it.
Since they have to stock prescription birth control, Plan B is basically the same thing, so not stocking it is obviously intentional, and not a business decision.
I love abortion. Seriously. Best invention of the past 150 years. They should call this shit Plan A.
How come people buy microwaves but not womb brooms? Who cares if you can heat up a Campbell's cup o' soup in a minute? That shit sucks anyways. A chance to free up a future parking space is much more beneficial to all of us.
Use all available spaces to name the fucking pharmacies that want to deny women their plan b. Boycott those pharmacies, protest at those pharmacies, COST THEM MONEY!! Money is what those self- righteous bastards really worship.
Plan B requires a prescription for those under age 18 years old. If you're worried about your pharmacy not stocking it you can order it ahead of time from http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=161395&catid=88538
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