I sent this through the Comments link on the Target Phamarcy site:
I am writing to express my displeasure at Target's policy of not requiring its pharmacists to distribute birth control and emergency contraception *when presented with a doctor's prescription*. I can't believe Target believes its pharmacists should have any say in my reproductive health.
I've been a faithful Target shopper for years, actually believing in Target's hipper-than-thou image. Now, though, as much as it hurts, I won't be shopping at Target--at least until this ridiculous policy is changed. I'm hopeful that other women will join me: Women have *got* to make up the majority of your customer base, and if you can't support us, we shouldn't support you.
I doubt if I'll get a reply, but I'll post if I do. This whole thing makes me SO MAD. I really, really love Target. I won't shop at Wal-Mart. That leaves me with K-Mart, and I *hate* my local K-Mart.
Maybe this will force me to spend less money.
13 comments:
Kmart sucks, but they're never crowded anymore.
i'm going to send an email too.
frankly, i am relieved that i did my xmas shopping before i read about this new policy. and while i will not shop there now, i also am not returning stuff : )
i just don't get the problem here - it's not as if this stuff is otc. you need a doctor's prescription, it is regulated responsibly. who are the pharmacists/drug stores to dictate what you may use? what if someone decided my zoloft was wrong to use and i should just see my priest for counseling instead? where does it stop?
WHat!!!! Isn't that why they're a drug store so you can *get* drugs? That seems such a counter-intutive policy for a major chain such as Target--I get my drugs at Giant Eagle so as to get the Fuel Perks. Go figure. I also don't go to Target for drugs because they redesigned their bottles. I'm sorry, but I don't see how they can call themselves a drug store if they won't take prescriptions. I wonder how often an actual incident comes up--did you read about the policy or crash into it? Sometimes policies are "in writing" but never actually utilized...
i don't care if it's not "utilized"; it should not even be in writing.
I realize blogs are personal, and all, but Gina, you never mentioned that this was a Planned Parenthood thing and that it was *focused* on "Emergency Contraception" which some people view as abortion. That is a very different issue. I have good friends that are pharmacists that won't work retail because their consciences wouldn't allow them to dispense this type of drug. Without trying to "flame" this post, I'd appreciate a little more information next time--although, as a librarian, perhaps I should have done the research first, before reacting as I did earlier.
Having said that, I have three copies at home of A Bargain for Frances...I believe that being able to post this and you responding to me as someone with a different perspective enlarges both of our lives. I'm taking a risk by posting this, like giving a balloon to a porcupine, but I hope we won't suffer too much for it.
kyabkd: kaja yabba kites and dogs
Sorry, SL. I should have posted a link to the story.
I respect your pharmacist friends for not working retail in order to be able to stick to their beliefs. That said, though, I don't believe Target Pharmacies should have *any* right to deny me *anything* my doctor prescribes. As you said yourself, "I don't see how they can call themselves a drug store if they won't take prescriptions."
Like Val said, what if the pharmacist thought she shouldn't take her Zoloft? Or if a pharmacist thought an unmarried man shouldn't be allowed Viagra? The drugs people take are between them and their doctors. Pharmacists are there to make sure those drugs are administered properly.
Here's the entry for "pharmacy" from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
Main Entry: phar·ma·cy
Pronunciation: 'fär-m&-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cies
Etymology: Late Latin pharmacia administration of drugs, from Greek pharmakeia, from pharmakeuein to administer drugs, from pharmakon magic charm, poison, drug
1 : the art, practice, or profession of preparing, preserving, compounding, and dispensing medical drugs
2 a : a place where medicines are compounded or dispensed
Nothing in that dictionary entry alludes to passing judgement.
"from pharmakon magic charm, poison, drug." What a great definition. Freedom is a tricky thing. I'm glad we live in a place where we have it. I'm doubly glad that I survived expressing my thoughts--I am learning more and more to shoot from the hip instead of shrinking into the background. Thank you Gina, for that. Tomorrow is Joy Cherene's birthday. My sister would have been 30. Tomorrow (in all my spare time, ha!) I'm going to post on "The Girl who lived," my sister Beppe. I hope you'll pop over to Pink Sneakers for a peek.
straps on sport-arguing helmet
you know, I know it isn't exactly parallel, but a store doesn't have to stock everything.
if a record store doesn't want to sell Air Supply, they can decide not to.
if a bookstore decides they don't want to sell bibles they can decide not to.
why can't a pharmacy decide not to sell something to which they have an opposition?
isn't the real problem here that when in this situation that there is no alternative?
they are a business. can anyone think of any other business where we would say they have to offer something so specific?
maybe I am uneducated here and there is something in becoming a licensed pharmacist that says you must stock everything - but I doubt it.
its supply and demand isn't it? if Target Pharmacy gives this level of discretion to their pharmacists, well then there is an opportuinty for someone else to open a small business in that community.
I do wonder if Target would let a checker refuse to sell bibles.
This is all noise. We shouldn't try to fix the business or the people uncomfortable dispensing the product on very real religious grounds, and I certinly don't think we should try to pass a law that would mandate a business sell a particular product. We should just try to provide a new access for people that need it.
Isn't emergency contraception "I need a 12 pack of Trojans...NOW!!!"?
-J.
david's right. after all, the beauty of the free market system is that Gina is free to take her dollars away from Target because of a company policy with which she does nto agree, in an effort to change said policy, and SL is free to, for example, funnel more of her dollars towards Target as commendation of sorts for their policy with which she does agree. Eventually the free market will sort it out. and it may be as simple, like david said, as another small pharmacy opening and succeeding nearby because they offer unlimited prescription access.
Personally, I think a pharmacist falls into the doctor/lawyer category in which a moral judgment is not part of their job. But that's really neither here nor there, except for what I decide to do with that opinion in the face of a pharmacy's policy.
Can you imagine Target allowing any checker to refuse to sell any of its other stock? Grand Theft Auto? Eminem CDs? Condoms? Cigarettes? Beer and wine, in those states lucky enough to be able to buy them in regular stores? No.
I feel duped, because I fell for the image Target presented to me. I don't like these shenanigans, and I will no longer give Target my money. That's all I'm saying.
Sounds like this issue is talked out, but hey...
If we're going to talk about "emergency contraception," let's keep in mind that that phrase encompasses everything from someone who is reckless and thoughtless... to a woman who was assaulted and raped by a man and does not wish to become pregnant as a result of it all.
Let's further keep in mind that, at the end of the day, and with apologies to the loving men I know who do take equal responsibility for their contraception... it's ultimately a woman's issue/problem/challenge/whatever term you choose to ensure that she prevents conception in her own body. Which makes it personal.
I don't think this is as simple as a stock issue. Using DB's example, record stores and pharmacies, while both can be commercial ventures, have two completely different reasons for being, in theory.
This is *not* just a Planned Parenthood issue. The "American Family Association" is on the flip side of this debate. They're praising Target for its actions. The AFA is the same organization which thus far successfully managed to get Ford to stop its support of gay and lesbian magazines *and fundraisers for gay-related issues*. The same organization that is lobbying the FDA not to release a vaccine that could potentially prevent the spread of HPV, the human papilloma virus, which leads to cervical cancer in women. Why? Because it's a frequent side-effect of unprotected sex, as it's transmitted sexually.
But I don't want to digress. I really respect pharmacists who do not work in retail so as to avoid having to perform duties that conflict with their beliefs. They are being true to themselves, while respecting my right to obtain a legal drug with my doctor's prescription.
Count me in as one of those who has chosen not to shop at Target. In my opinion, they haven't been honest about this whole issue. They tried to sugar coat it saying it had something to do with the Civil Rights Act or some other really stretching-the-connection legislation, which, if that were the case, would mean they'd have to offer that same right to ALL of their employees. Including the Klansman who didn't feel that serving black customers was compatible with his personal beliefs.
** I am NOT drawing a parallel between the two issues... I'm making the point about hiding behind the Civil Rights Act. **
Lastly, did you hear about the Walgreen's employees who were brought up on charges for NOT dispensing this drug?
ok guys, i am writing an entire post on this but let's be clear:
I hit MicroMedex (drug db) yesterday. the emergency contraception under scrutiny (not that I can find the policy outlined on Target's website) is NOT, repeat, NOT an abortifacient. IT DOES NOT CAUSE AN ABORTION. It prevents ovulation, meaning it may help prevent pregnancy JUST LIKE any other form of birth control prevents pregnancy. It CANNOT TERMINATE a pregnancy.
RU-486/mifepristone (or methotrexate) are used to cause a "medical" (as opposed to surgical) abortion.This is NOT the "morning-after pill." This is indeed an abortifacient and is approved by the FDA for such usage.
But the prescriptions under discussion in the Target case (also known as "the morning-after pill", admittedly confusingly so-called) are just normal everyday birth control pills.
SL, your friends who do not prescribe EC because they believe it causes an abortion are misinformed or are not being clear int heir explanations. I respectfully would be interested in hearing their position on normal birth control methods and if they will indeed fill *those* prescriptions. And Gina, I would love to find out exactly what Target's policy is on both drugs, so if you find out more, please let me know.
Off to write my more detailed post.
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