Tashina Byrd and her boyfriend tried to purchase the emergency contraception Plan B at the Springfield, Ohio Wal-Mart after their condom broke. The pharmacist not only refused to provide emergency contraception to them, but he laughed in their faces and did not get another employee to dispense it.
Plan B is simply a concentrated dose of ordinary birth-control pills that can prevent unintended pregnancy after sex.
Wal-Mart must stop discriminating against women and ensure that their pharmacies guarantee women's access to Plan B. If an individual pharmacist refuses to provide Plan B, Wal-Mart should ensure that another employee provides it immediately.
Please speak out now, so that no other woman has to go through the humiliation and anger that Tashina experienced.
Send Wal-Mart President & CEO H. Lee Scott, Jr. a message urging him to improve company policy to require Wal-Mart pharmacies to fulfill requests for Plan B without intimidation, humiliation or delay.
Dear Mr. Scott,
I urge you to improve your corporate policy so women can have access to Plan B, without delay or harassment.
I would like Wal-Mart to stop discriminating against women and to ensure that your pharmacies guarantee women's access to Plan B. If an individual pharmacist refuses to provide Plan B, Wal-Mart should ensure that another employee provides it immediately.
As one of the nation's largest retail pharmacies, Wal-Mart has an obligation not only to stock Plan B, but also to provide it to women without intimidation, humiliation, or harassment. Wal-Mart's policy denies women their right to a safe, effective, and legal over-the-counter drug by allowing pharmacists to choose whether or not they want to dispense it.
The vast majority of Americans, including those who oppose legal abortion, support birth control. Additionally, polling shows that 80 percent of Americans think it's wrong for pharmacists to refuse to fill women's prescriptions for birth control based on their personal views.
[Your comment here]
I hope you will reconsider your corporate policy and make your customers' health - and rights - your top priority. Thank you.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]
