Thread: Walmart MUST give out the morning after pill

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Massachusetts regulatory board voted on Tuesday to require Wal-Mart stores to stock morning-after contraceptives, two weeks after three women in the state sued Wal-Mart for refusing to fill orders for the pills.

If Wal-Mart complies, Massachusetts will become the second state after Illinois to require the world's biggest retailer to carry the Plan B contraceptive, which must be taken within 72 hours after sex to prevent pregnancy.

The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy said it had sent Wal-Mart lawyers a letter informing them of its unanimous decision.

Wal-Mart has until Thursday to provide written compliance to the board's ruling and Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman has said the retailer would abide by any directive from the state pharmacy board.

"Massachusetts is the second state in the country which now appears to have succeeded in compelling Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception," said Samuel Perkins, who represented the three Massachusetts women in their suit against the retailer.

The Massachusetts case comes as some pharmacists in the United States have faced criticism from abortion rights and women's groups for refusing to dispense the emergency contraception on moral or religious grounds. Some anti-abortion and Christian groups say morning-after contraception encourages risky sexual behavior.

"The campaign does not end in Massachusetts," Perkins said at a news conference. "If in fact Wal-Mart thinks over its options and decides that it is not going to change its policy nationally, we are prepared to file suit in other states."

Perkins said he filed a complaint with the state pharmacy board on the same day he filed the lawsuit on behalf of the three women in Suffolk Superior Court that claimed Wal-Mart's failure to stock the pill was a violation of state law. He said that case is still pending.

WAL-MART CITES LOW DEMAND

According to the suit, Wal-Mart has previously said it was corporate policy not to stock emergency contraceptive medication, citing slow sales and low demand.

Fogleman has said the company "chooses not to carry many products for business reasons," giving low demand as one. If customers seek a product that a Wal-Mart pharmacy does not carry, they are referred to another that does, he said.

Perkins said the suit filed by his plaintiffs, who all are involved with women's health or advocacy issues, was based on state pharmacy regulations requiring pharmacies to stock and dispense "commonly prescribed medications in accordance with the usual needs of the community."

Perkins said it was the first lawsuit to compel Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception.

Wal-Mart has been required to stock morning-after contraception in Illinois since Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued an emergency rule last year requiring druggists whose pharmacies sell contraception to dispense morning-after birth control to women with valid prescriptions.

In January, four pharmacists in Illinois sued drugstore chain Walgreen Co., claiming they were wrongly fired for refusing to dispense the pills.

Plan B, made by Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999 as a prescription drug. Since then, the FDA has delayed ruling on whether to grant the drug over-the-counter status. Agency officials have said the drug is safe and effective but cite concerns over how to regulate a restriction based on age.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsAr...ON-WALMART.xml

Hooray and hurrah, I say.

^^^^ what he said

The morning after pill will cost a whole lot less than having an abortion.

Plus I can't see Walmart giving abortions.

they dont like the u.s. anyways. :evil:

That'll be the day!

already has happened.

in a case with an american manufacturer vs. an import manufacturer, walmart sided with the importer.

and i think walmart moved its headquarters to china. ( not entirely sure, ill look into it. )

That's not because they hate the US, it's because China will do the same job just as well for less money.

which screws america.