For the past few years, American pharmacists, clearly in violation of their own code of ethics, have been refusing to fill prescriptions for reproductive health items. The result has led to inconvenience, and–in some cases–pregnancy.
Now, a pharmacist and store manager at a Wal-Mart in Columbus, Ohio have taken the battle a step farther, refusing to sell an over-the-counter product. Tashina Byrd and her partner went to a Wal-Mart to buy
Plan B, and the pharmacist behind the counter just “shook his head and laughed.”
Plan B, though an over-the-counter drug, is still stocked behind the pharmacy counter because a prescription is needed for females under the age of eighteen. The Wal-Mart pharmacist said that “I do not believe in ending life, and life begins at conception.” The store manager told the couple that “The pharmacist has the law on his side.”
Byrd has contacted Ohio governor Ted Strickland, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Wal-Mart Watch about the incident.
