The amendment states that a pharmacy can’t be sued for not carrying medication and that the state cannot revoke a license if a pharmacy does not carry certain medication. It specifically mentions Plan B.

Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O’Fallon, argued that businesses owners should have the right to choose what products they carry.

“I have trouble understanding why anybody who is an American, who is not in favor of Communism, would want us to dictate what we’re going to say people can and cannot stock,” Davis said.

Communism?? Please! Missouri has many rural areas where there may be just one pharmacy for miles. If your pharmacy won’t carry Plan B, then you have no hope of getting the drug quickly.

Plan B has nothing to do with being American or being Communist.

Government health officials in Minnesota testified last Monday that rates of sexually transmitted diseases are increasing, particularly among urban women, and that a proposed bill to increase funding for testing, treatment and education might stem the steady rise in rates and curb teen pregnancy.

The bill was heard by the Health, Housing and Family Security Committee, where it passed by a voice vote on Monday.

Minnesota has a governor with close ties to the religious right. It’s likely that the bill will not pass.

This is, shall we say, not cool at all.  Come on, people, step it up!  We have the right to Plan B – let us have it!

Court: Druggists May Deny Emergency Pill

By CURT WOODWARD – Nov 8, 2007

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge has suspended Washington state’s requirement that pharmacists sell “morning-after” birth control pills, a victory for druggists who claim their moral objections to the drug are being bulldozed by the government.

In an injunction signed Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton said pharmacists can refuse to sell the morning-after pill if they refer the customer to another nearby source. Pharmacists’ employers also are protected by the order.

The emergency contraception sold as Plan B is a high dose of a drug found in many regular birth-control pills. It can dramatically lower the risk of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

Critics consider the pill tantamount to abortion, although it is different from the abortion pill RU-486 and has no effect on women who already are pregnant.

Under pressure from Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, state regulators this year ruled that druggists couldn’t withhold any prescription because of their personal objections.

Two pharmacists and a drugstore owner sued the state in July over the new rule, saying it violates their civil rights. They asked the judge to halt forced Plan B sales while the lawsuit is in play.

“On the issue of free exercise of religion alone, the evidence before the court convinces it that plaintiffs … have demonstrated both a likelihood of success on the merits and the possibility of irreparable injury,” Leighton wrote.

The injunction effectively sets up a so-called “refuse and refer” system, allowing pharmacists who personally oppose Plan B to send customers to another pharmacy.

Women’s groups, abortion-rights advocates and Gregoire have opposed that approach, saying women who seek emergency contraception must get the pills as quickly as possible for them to work.

Kristen Waggoner, an attorney for the pharmacists and drug store owner, said, “We believe strongly that forcing someone to choose between their religious beliefs and actually losing their business or their career is unconstitutional.”

Plan B’s manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., last year got approval to sell the drug without a prescription to women 18 and older.

Several states have enacted laws to improve rape survivors’ access to the medication in hospital emergency rooms. Some states also have laws that protect pharmacy employees who refuse to sell the contraceptive for reasons of conscience.

One huge obstacle to women trying to get EC is the price – that stuff is expensive! What Brazil has done is taken a huge step is recognizing the problem they have, and then finding an effective way to fix it.

So, way to go, Brazil! I hope other countries take note

However, now there’s a way to get Plan B online. Drugstore.com carries it, and women 18 and older can buy it there. Remember, shipping may not always get it to you on time. So why not order a pack, just to have it in your medicine cabinet for when there is an emergency?

No embarrassment, you don’t have to talk to a pharmacist, and if you order more than $49 of stuff, you can get free shipping.

EC is available at most women’s health centers across the country, but in some states those are few and far between. These pharmacies promising to stock Plan B means that more women across the country will have access to EC, without discrimination.

Every pharmacy that agrees to stock Plan B agrees that it will be available to women 18 or over without discrimination, judgment, or delay. It also guarantees that women under the age of 18 will be able to get it, with prescription, from these places.

If your local pharmacy doesn’t stock Plan B, encourage them to do so, and at the very least make sure the pharmacy has a recommendation of a store that a woman can go to to get Plan B that is practical and easy to reach.

If you live in a large urban area, it might not seem like a big deal – if one pharmacy doesn’t have it, you can go to another. But for women who live in rural areas, where there might not be more than one pharmacy, it’s important that those women are able to get it, too

Remember – this is your right. Fight for it.