One of the latest attempts to impose pinched religious views on our whole society:
Dear Wal-Mart Pharmacies,
All over the country I have noticed a disturbing trend of pharmacies refusing to fill women's prescriptions for birth control. When a woman and her doctor decide that a prescription for contraception is in the woman's best interest, a third party has no right to override that decision. Pharmacies must ensure that patients get their doctor- prescribed medication without delay or inconvenience. I ask that your company assure me and your other customers that no woman seeking prescription contraception will be turned away by your company's pharmacies.
No doubt a majority of your customers take for granted that women should be able to receive their birth control despite the personal beliefs of the individual pharmacist. Timely access to contraception is central to women's health, autonomy, and equality. We must trust women and their doctors to make their own reproductive health decisions.
I thank you, in advance, for protecting your customer's health by ensuring your pharmacy will guarantee women have unhindered access to their prescribed medications.
Thank you for your attention and support.
Sincerely,
Levana
Usually these emails go off into the ether, and I hope that someone reads them, but I guess that Walmart has been getting a lot of these, so they actually had an auto response to my specific comments. I was quite surprised at their comments:
"Walmart.com Help" <help@walmart.com> wrote:
Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for contacting us at Walmart.com regarding women's prescriptions for birth control. Your comments and concerns are very important to us as we strive to meet your needs.
Wal-Mart does not carry emergency contraceptives. Our pharmacists may decline to fill a prescription based on personal convictions. However, they must find another pharmacist, either at Wal-Mart or another
pharmacy, who can assist you by filling your prescription.
Again, we thank you for your comments regarding this issue.
Sincerely,
Customer Service at Walmart.com
Well, now I am really pissed.
I already hate Walmart for other reasons, but a lot of women shop there. Not only do they refuse to stock certain products, but they give their employees carte blanche to decide who gets what medicines they need based their "personal convictions." Now, this policy is against the law in some states, and I'm sure it is illegal under the Civil Rights Act. Not only am I angry at the discrimination against women, but this policy is just ridiculous. If employees are allowed to decide which customers are allowed to buy certain products based on their personal beliefs, then chaos could ensue at Walmarts everywhere. Here was my response to Walmart's response:
Dear Walmart Pharmacies,
I was wondering, as a matter of principle, if Walmart pharmacists fill prescriptions for Viagra to unmarried men? Or, if Walmart sells condoms, spermicides, or other forms of birth control to unmarried men? I was also wondering if Walmart employees who are opposed to the individual right to bear arms are allowed to deny customers to purchase guns or other firearms? It seems to me that if your policy for Pharmacists were to translate into the greater context, then Walmart employees would be allowed to deny customers your products based on any of their personal beliefs. For example, if a Baptist employee didn't agree with a Presbyterian's interpretation of a Biblical text then therefore they may be unwilling to sell them a book about religion. I'm no legal expert, but it seems that you are walking a thin line, if not, allowing your employees to commit an illegal act.
This seems like an inconsistency to me. Walmart employees are allowed to discriminate against women because of their personal convictions, but then I am assuming that they could not discriminate against people of a certain race or religion. Also, I doubt the professional expertise of any Pharmacist who would deny a woman's prescription to birth control. I happen to personally know several women who have children and who are married Christians who need those hormones to prevent fibroids and endometriosis. Do these Pharmacists understand that? Do they also understand that medicines are often used for multiple diagnoses? If not, I truly doubt their competence and would never recommend that anyone put her health in jeopardy by filling her prescriptions at a Walmart pharmacy.
I think you are wrong to allow this unprofessional behavior in your pharmacies and I hope you will take my thoughts into serious consideration.
Sincerely,
Levana<
Now, I just scratched the surface of this outrageous hypocrisy, and I'm sure that you all can think of much worse. So, I am hoping that you will all join me in writing to "Walmart.com Help" <help@walmart.com> and let them know how many ways that they are wrong about this.
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