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Support the Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act
Take action by Friday, July 29, 2005
Urge your senators and representatives to support the Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act, ALPhA, S. 809 introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and H.R. 1652 introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Christopher Shays (R-CT). This important bipartisan legislation will protect an individual's right to have access to legal contraception. If a pharmacist has a personal objection to filling a legal prescription for a drug or device, the pharmacy will be required to ensure that the prescription is filled by another pharmacist employed by the pharmacy who does not have a personal objection. This includes all legal prescriptions. Background: Reports of pharmacists refusing to fill legally-prescribed prescriptions for birth control, including emergency contraceptives, have surfaced in states across the nation, including California, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington state and Wisconsin. These refusals to dispense prescription contraceptives appear to be based on a pharmacist's personal religious beliefs, not on legitimate medical or professional concerns about safety and the welfare of the customer. The same pharmacists who refuse to dispense contraceptives because of their personal beliefs often refuse to hand a woman's prescription to another pharmacist on site or refer her to a different pharmacy. This further compounds their unprofessional action and seriously impedes the right of women to seek timely and safe prescriptions, especially when their whole physical, psychological and family planning future is at stake. Women can only prevent unintended, unwanted, involuntary and criminal pregnancies if they have full access to contraception. Emergency contraception (EC) must be taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse to prevent a pregnancy, and the sooner it is taken the more effective it is. Trying to obtain EC within this time frame can be stressful for any woman, but particularly for a woman who has just survived being raped. Adding more obstacles while the clock is ticking is simply outrageous. Only a woman, with the support of her spouse or partner, her family - and if she chooses, her medical and religious counselors - should determine the timing and spacing of her childbearing. It is also true that women rely on prescription contraceptives for a range of medical purposes, such as regulation of cycles and endometriosis. They should not have to explain this to pharmacists in order to pass their morality test. It is arbitrary and discriminatory for pharmacists to refuse to dispense legally-prescribed birth control, holding the power over customers and delaying or preventing women from meeting their most basic health needs, including pregnancy prevention and treatment of various medical conditions. Pharmacist refusals are particularly burdensome to rural and low-income women, who may be unable to find or travel to another pharmacy to have their prescriptions filled without considerable hardship. The Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act Under ALPhA pharmacists cannot prevent or deter an individual from filling a legal prescription for drugs or devices. Refusing to return or transfer a prescription would be prohibited under the ALPhA as well. The pharmacist cannot harass, humiliate or intentionally breach the confidentiality of the individual attempting to fill the prescription. The prescription must be filled without delay, and in a time frame consistent with the amount of time it would take the pharmacy to fill a prescription that is not personally objectionable to the pharmacist. Example: If it takes a pharmacy one hour to fill prescriptions for diabetes medication, it should take one hour to fill a prescription for birth control.