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Fast Facts
Guaranteed Access to Prescriptions
What can be done about pharmacists who refuse to fill women's prescriptions for birth control? |
Laws that guarantee women's access to prescriptions are becoming increasingly necessary to address the growing problem of pharmacists refusing to fill women's legally prescribed birth control prescriptions. Some pharmacists even go so far as to lecture women, humiliate them at the counter, or refuse to hand back a prescription. When a woman walks into a pharmacy with a birth control prescription from her doctor, she should walk out with the medication—without intimidation, delay, or harassment. |
CURRENT STATE LAWS6 states guarantee that women's birth control prescriptions will be filled: CA, IL, ME, NV, NJ, WA.
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2007 STATE LEGISLATION11 states considered 21 measures that would guarantee that women's birth control prescriptions be filled: AZ, MO, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, TX, VA, WV, WI.
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2007 FEDERAL LEGISLATIONPro-choice lawmakers sponsored legislation that would guarantee women's access to prescriptions and require pharmacies to ensure that women's prescriptions for birth control are filled without delay or interference. |
2007 NOTABLE CASES
In October 2007, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Walgreens, and a group of individual pharmacists reached a settlement agreement in a case challenging the Illinois rule guaranteeing women's access to birth control. The agreement provides an amendment to the rule that would allow pharmacies to work by electronic communication with an off-site pharmacist to process the request if an individual pharmacist objects to dispensing the medication and no other pharmacist is available on-site. Under this plan, women would receive the medication on-site, if the medication is in stock.
In November 2007, a federal district court granted pharmacists' motion for a preliminary injunction against Washington's Pharmacy Board rule that requires pharmacists to dispense lawfully prescribed drugs or devices approved by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration.
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| For a map of all states with Guaranteed Access to Prescriptions - click here. | |
