The Morning After Pill - Back-Up Birth Control

[Junkman]

Wal-Mart - the nation's largest retail pharmacy - has been denying millions of American women the opportunity to prevent unintended pregnancy. The store refuses to stock the "morning-after" pill, a back-up birth control option that prevents pregnancy after sex.

With your help, NARAL Pro-Choice America has been fighting this policy from every angle:

In the past year, our activists have generated 75,000 messages to Wal-Mart headquarters, asking the retail giant to reverse its policy.
Our affiliate, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, recently joined three women plaintiffs who announced a suit against Wal-Mart for not stocking the morning-after pill.
And just last week, we signed onto a letter with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National Organization for Women, the National Council of Women's Organizations, and WakeUpWalMart.com, urging Wal-Mart to change its policy.
Our efforts are starting to pay off. On Friday, a Wal-Mart spokesperson told the Associated Press, "Women's health is a high priority for Wal-Mart, so clearly there are broader considerations and we are giving this a lot of thought." [Associated Press, 2/3/06]

We have to continue to push Wal-Mart to end its discriminatory policy once and for all. Help us convince Wal-Mart that they can only make women's health a priority by stocking the morning-after pill. Click here to sign our petition to Wal-Mart today!

You can also call Wal-Mart on their toll-free line at 1-800-WAL-MART (1-800-925-6278). Use our sample script:

"I ask that Wal-Mart reverse its policy on denying emergency contraception, also known as the "morning-after" pill, to women across the country. I hope you will reconsider your policy and make your customers' health - and rights - your top priority. Thank you."

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about our effort to get Wal-Mart to stock the morning-after pill.
Tell-a-friend!

 

[thcri]

Well I will stick my 2 cents in here.


I personnally believe that no business should be forced to sell something they don't believe in or want to sell for any reason. By making Wal-Mart sell the birth control pill is forcing them to go against their belief's. I personally don't agree with abortion, that is my right and no one should have the right to force another opinion on me. To me this is no different than big government telling us what to do.

For the people that agree on abortion and need the morning after pill, there is other places they can go to and get them. If Wal-mart does not want to sell the pills for any reason they should not have to. Some of us own business's here and you just have to think about it as if someone comes in and tell's you, you have to start selling something whether you like it or not. I just don't agree that we should be told how to run our business's.

If women have the right to choice, then Wal-mart should have the right to not stock. Again, the women had other choices like go elsewhere.

One more thing, it is the same as someone telling you, you don't have the right to bear arms.

I am not good at writing or debating, I just think it is wrong.


murph

Sorry Junk, it is just my opinion and belief.

 

[ddrane2115]

Do what I did, snip snip, done. no big deal. takes just a few minutes and mine was painless.

 

[OkeeDon]

I agree with Murph. Walmart is a private business and has the right to sell, or not sell, any legal product. On the other hand, Naral is taking the correct approach and making this an economic decision for Walmart. They are not trying to force Walmart to sell the pills, which they could only accomplish through some sort of law, and no one is going to pass a law like that.

Walmart will weigh their personal beliefs, the beliefs of pro-lifers who are customers, and the pressure put on them by those who want to purchase the pills, and will make an economic decision. We have no say in it one way or another, except to make our opinion known to Walmart if we feel strongly enough about it one way or the other, which I don't.

 

[Dargo]

Do what I did, snip snip, done. no big deal. takes just a few minutes and mine was painless.

Oh yeah!? I suppose you didn't go to work for a full day the next day and then get on your tractor and bounce across some ruts! oster_oo

 

[thcri]

On the other hand, Naral is taking the correct approach and making this an economic decision for Walmart.

Don,
Help me out here as I am not sure totally what your saying here.

If this was an economic decision for Wal-mart would they not sell it. I would have to think Wal-mart would make money on it, they are in business to make money right? So if it was economics I would think they would sell it. I am thinking they are not selling it for personal reasons, such as they believe in pro-life??


murph

 

[Junkman]

I see this slightly differant. If they are the only game in town, which in some locations, that is the case, then they have a public responsibility to provide all legal drugs that are required by the people of the community. What would you say if Walmart decided that withholding the sale of high blood pressure medicine was the thing to do for whatever reason that they can think of. I believe that under certain circumstances that business's have a responsibility to the community that they serve. How about a private ambulance service that decided not to serve the black, hispanic, or white neighborhoods because they didn't care for one of them? How about if there reasons were based on religion, rather than race? Should a restaurant be required to serve anyone that walks in the door????

 

[Junkman]

Is Pro Life a religious belief or a political belief???? If religious, then should your religion tell me what I should believe it????? If political, am I not guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to my own political beliefs??? The Supreme Court of the Land has spoken. They say that everyone is free to choose for themselves. By Walmart withholding any medicine that is legal, they are taking my freedom of choice from me.

 

[OkeeDon]

Murph, in my mind, there could only be two reasons why Walmart does not sell the pill.

One, they have social beliefs of their own that leads to their decision. In this case, it is not an economic decision, because they're willing to lose profits because of their beliefs. This also means that there can be no economic pressure brought on them, because it's possible their social beliefs are so strong, they'd be willing to suffer a boycott because of their beliefs. Of course, at some point, economic pressure could be so intense that they face the decision to sell the pills or go bankrupt -- but I don't see anything close to that situation in this case; not enough people care enough.

Or two, they have made an informed decision that sufficient numbers of their customers are pro-life, and that these customers will boycott if the pills are sold, and the losses from such a boycott would be greater than the profit from the pills. So, the decision not to sell is economic rather than social. In this case, it's up to the proponents of sales of the pill to produce their own economic pressure and try to make that pressure stronger than the pro-life folks can bring. That's when it becomes an economic decision for Walmart -- which group could cause the the greatest loss? In this scenario, the profits from sales of the pill are probably the least important factor in the decision.

Junk, If there is sufficient demand for the pills, and Walmart is the only game in town, and they continue to refuse to sell them, they won't be the only game in town for long. Someone else will figure out a way to supply the demand. If anything, I have a tendency to think that the protesters are wasting their time and the resources of Walmart for no good reason.\

Whoops! What's a liberal doing defending the rights of a private corporation to run their business the way they want? I've been trying to tell you guys, I'm not a typical left-winger. But, the knee-jerk folks are too stupid to see the difference; they're too busy thinking up ways to blame their problems on Ted Kennedy.

 

[thcri]

I see this slightly differant. If they are the only game in town, which in some locations, that is the case, then they have a public responsibility to provide all legal drugs that are required by the people of the community. What would you say if Walmart decided that withholding the sale of high blood pressure medicine was the thing to do for whatever reason that they can think of.

If they are pro-life and I don't know if they are, but if so then not selling the pill to them would be saving a life. And selling the high blood pressure medicine also would be saving a life. Now we can get into a debate about if this is actually a life or not but if Wal-mart is pro-life then they would believe it is.

How about a private ambulance service that decided not to serve the black, hispanic, or white neighborhoods because they didn't care for one of them? How about if there reasons were based on religion, rather than race? Should a restaurant be required to serve anyone that walks in the door????

Junk,
Your above statement I don't think is the same. The ambulance service if they didn't serve a certain race it would be discrimination. And I would totally agree with you as that being wrong. Wal-mart is not selling a product to everyone, they are treating one the same as the other. They have made a decision to not sell a product no matter who they are, treating all the same. The ambulance is selecting who they sell or service to which is wrong. Your restaurant, religion or race should be required to serve everyone but I still don't see that being the same as what Wal-mart is doing, again Wal-mart is not picking who they sell a product too, they have decided to not sell one particular product to everybody.


Junk, that is just how I kind of see it. I am not a Wal-mart fan in fact I don't buy much from them. My point is this is suppose to be a free country and a business should be able to decide what to and what not to sell without organizations creating law suits and forcing them to.


murph
And I still am not upset with you

 

[AndyM]

Junk, If there is sufficient demand for the pills, and Walmart is the only game in town, and they continue to refuse to sell them, they won't be the only game in town for long. Someone else will figure out a way to supply the demand. If anything, I have a tendency to think that the protesters are wasting their time and the resources of Walmart for no good reason.

Don, I agree...
Even though Walmart is the largest seller of CD music in this country, they refuse to sell certain kinds of music (the stuff with the advisory labels). Through the capitalistic system in this country, there are other avenues to purchase it.

Most of the music I listen to is also not sold at Walmart... but I pursue it through other retail outlets who carry it. It would be silly of me to spend time to force Walmart to carry everything I need when I know I can get it elsewhere.

 

[ddrane2115]

Oh yeah!? I suppose you didn't go to work for a full day the next day and then get on your tractor and bounce across some ruts! oster_oo

uh, no took the weekend off, had the snip done on friday afternoon. Still painless, and not a big deal. tighty whity's kept everything in place.

 

[Melensdad]

I see this slightly differant. If they are the only game in town, which in some locations, that is the case, then they have a public responsibility to provide all legal drugs that are required by the people of the community. What would you say if Walmart decided that withholding the sale of high blood pressure medicine was the thing to do for whatever reason that they can think of. I believe that under certain circumstances that business's have a responsibility to the community that they serve. How about a private ambulance service that decided not to serve the black, hispanic, or white neighborhoods because they didn't care for one of them? How about if there reasons were based on religion, rather than race? Should a restaurant be required to serve anyone that walks in the door????

Junk, I usually agree with your logic but not in this case. Even if Wal Mart is the only pharmacy in town, which is highly unlikely based on my observations, it is still a private company that can choose to sell what it wants to sell. The pill, regardless of whether someone is pro-choice or pro-life, is available at other stores, perhaps it will require a trip to the next nearest town, but it is available. Further, while not having high blood pressure meds might create an immediate life threatening situation for the person who doesn't take the medication, the morning after pill does not create an immediate life threatening situation for the person who is wants to take the pill. I suspect that there are very few places in the nation where there is not a pharmacy within a 1 hour drive that competes with Wal Mart, and it is very likely that there are 10 pharmacies in most areas within a 1 hour drive of Wal Mart.

The parallels you draw to the ambulance service don't work, as there are plenty of laws to prevent that type of exclusionary practice, which is based on race, religion, ethnicity.

The parallels you draw about the restaurant would make more sense if the arguement was not what race the resteraunt refused to serve, but what food they refused to serve. The reality is this is much more like offering a breakfast menu that does not include "green eggs & ham" which may be popular with fans of Dr Suess, but is not necessary to offer on the menu to serve 98% of the customers who enter the establishment.

Futher, you suggest that a private business has no right have religious values and that is simply false. There are many Muslim and Hindu owners of Gas-Marts that choose not to sell pork products. So when I sell them goods, I have to make sure I don't sell them candy that contains gelitan (rendered from pork skin) or hot dogs or jerky that contain pork. Private businesses are allowed to make choices based on their religious beliefs.

As for Wal Mart's choice, I suspect it really is a financial choice.

Look at it this way, if they have 1500 pharmacies (I have no clue how many they have, so this is just for illustrative purposes), and each pharmacy was required to stock only 5 of these pills, and each pill costs $25 then each store is stocking $125. So Wal Mart has to invest $187,500 just to stock the pills. And if they sell only a pill or two a week at most of their stores, then they are turning their inventory about once every 10 weeks, so the carrying costs of that inventory are going to include the interest rate times 365 divided by about 5, plus the fact that they are paid by an insurace company which is going to pay them in about 90 days, so the interest rate also needs to be applied to the 90 day waiting period of their accounts recievables for those 90 day periods. All of that would tend to make the pill fairly expensive to sell in small quantitites. However, in large quantities, medications become easier to handle and profit margins can be lower, value can be injected into the system so while the math works the same, the volume makes up for the need to have the margin high and the product can be more easily handled as a systemitized product rather than as an exception in the system. Wal Mart's business model is built upon high volume, low margin, easy to systemitize sales. Exceptions are simply not allowed.

 

[Gwill]

Although most if not all religions are opposed to abortion in any form, this is not necessarily a religious issue. Many believe, as I do, that it involves ending a unique life. Once that egg is fertilized it can only become that human being, and no other. Terminating it at any time is the taking of a life... MURDER. Of course, the sex drive is a strong one, but sex at the wrong time of the month leads to most pregnancies. The possibility of pregnancy should always be considered, and responsibly dealt with when it happens.

I know... there's the health of the woman to consider."My husband will kill me if I get pregnant, he's had a vasectomy" Bullshit!!!

 

[Junkman]

Junk, I usually agree with your logic but not in this case. ................................... Exceptions are simply not allowed.

I am just trying to stir the embers to see if the fire is still strong on the topic..... an exception to my normal practices.... Junk.....

 

[Big Dog]

Wal-Mart sells condoms, so those women could visit Wal-Mart BERFORE they have sex. Wal-Mart has covered the issue of womens protection and should not be forced to sell the drug.

My favorite tavern doesn't sell Johnny Walker Red either, he says he don't sell enough to carry it. I think I'll start a petition............

 

[working woman]

Wal-Mart sells condoms, so those women could visit Wal-Mart BERFORE they have sex. Wal-Mart has covered the issue of womens protection and should not be forced to sell the drug.

Let me guess, You've never been in a situation were you met up with an old flame, or been out somewhere that you just connect with someone and you wind up having sex? Planned on neither persons part??

and why is it that the female is supposed to purchase the condoms? Souldnt that be the mans responbility just as much as the females?

 

[Spiffy1]

Let me guess, You've never been in a situation were you met up with an old flame, or been out somewhere that you just connect with someone and you wind up having sex? Planned on neither persons part??

and why is it that the female is supposed to purchase the condoms? Souldnt that be the mans responbility just as much as the females?

Can't speak for BigDog or anyone else, but no I've never done that.

I will agree with the responisbility though, if somebody's throwing around wild oats, they better carry some bags to catch it too....or else be ready to pay for 18 years of growing it.

 

[Big Dog]

Let me guess, You've never been in a situation were you met up with an old flame, or been out somewhere that you just connect with someone and you wind up having sex? Planned on neither persons part??

and why is it that the female is supposed to purchase the condoms? Souldnt that be the mans responbility just as much as the females?

No I haven't! And if you feel you my be so promiscuous, careless and weak in this day and age (can you spell DISEASE), my sentiment stands! Sorry....

 

[Melensdad]

No I haven't! And if you feel you my be so promiscuous, careless and weak in this day and age (can you spell DISEASE), my sediment stands! Sorry....

BD, I think sediment would settle to the bottom but the logic of your sentiment would stand.

BTW, I do tend to agree with what you attempted to say. We are all responsible for our actions.

 

[Big Dog]

Smart AZZ

You'd understand if you ever worked in a Power Plant...................

Johnday will appreciate this.................

 

[Kubota King]

although I have had unexpected nights, I cant stand when someone tries to make me done something I dont want to do, therefore if Walmart chose's not to sell it, wether I like it or not, I have to respect that, in the same way I would want respect for doing or not doing what others may want me to do.

 

[working woman]

No I haven't! And if you feel you my be so promiscuous, careless and weak in this day and age (can you spell DISEASE), my sediment stands! Sorry....

Just a minute there bud, nowhere in my statement did I say that this situation has happen to me, but it has happened to a friend of mine,( who wound up pregnat by the way) which merely brought the question out

I personally, am a very sensible, level headed person when it comes to this area. I am very aware of what Diseases, how they are spreaded ,much less how to avoid getting pregnant. In fact it may surprise you at how little I've been aroud.

 

[Big Dog]

Just a minute there bud, nowhere in my statement did I say that this situation has happen to me, but it has happened to a friend of mine,( who wound up pregnat by the way) which merely brought the question out

I personally, am a very sensible, level headed person when it comes to this area. I am very aware of what Diseases, how they are spreaded ,much less how to avoid getting pregnant. In fact it may surprise you at how little I've been aroud.

Sorry, It wasn't meant to be directed at you. It was a generalization to all!

BTW.....Your post did not direct it to you personally either and I overlooked the implication!

 

[Kubota King]

I am a true believer that if no condom, then no sex! My unexpected night was with an ex that I knew was clean.

 

[Spiffy1]

In fact it may surprise you at how little I've been aroud.

I'm pretty hard to surpise, better try!

 

[bczoom]

Wal-Mart has been ordered by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy to stock the pill in MA.
It looks like they're going to comply.

 

[Kubota King]

gotta love the freedom we have here in the USA!

 

[bczoom]

gotta love the freedom we have here in the USA!

The reason is that under MA state policy, pharmacies are required to carry all commonly prescribed medicines. I guess this pill qualified.

 

[thcri]

Wal-Mart has been ordered by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy to stock the pill in MA.
It looks like they're going to comply.

Yeah, all that bullshit of making them stock. If I was Wal-mart I would make the price so damn high no one will buy it.

murph