Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110496

Lois Uttley, MPP, Mergerwatch, Family Planning Advocates of NYS, 17 Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207, 518-436-8408, ext. 211, lois@mergerwatch.org

Across the United States, women trying to fill prescriptions for birth control pills and emergency contraception are encountering pharmacists who refuse to dispense the medication, citing religious or moral objections. This presentation will describe the extent of the problem and its impact on patients, using documented accounts of pharmacist refusals from a number of states.

The paper will describe the intensifying campaign by Pharmacists for Life and other anti-choice groups to depict contraception as equivalent to abortion and promote the notion of a “right to life” for fertilized human eggs. It will discuss efforts by these groups to encourage pharmacists to refuse to dispense contraception and then to seek legal protections for such refusals. The presentation will set the conflict between patient and pharmacist over birth control in the context of the ongoing struggle over reproductive rights in the United States, noting the history of legally-sanctioned actions by some hospitals and physicians to refuse to provide abortions, sterilizations and, in some cases, emergency contraception for rape victims. It will discuss the potential impact of an possible FDA decision allowing emergency contraception to be dispensed over the counter, pointing out the likelihood that the medication still will be kept behind the pharmacy counter, not out on store shelves with other OTC medications. The paper will conclude by discussing official APHA policies on consumer access to emergency contraception (#2003-15 and 2003-16) and arguing for public policies that protect patients' ability to obtain medications, including contraception.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate the issues of patients’ rights and access to care that are raised when pharmacists refuse to dispense birth control pills and emergency contraception.
• Identify and describe the types of organizations that are encouraging pharmacists to cite “conscience” and moral objections to dispensing emergency contraception and birth control, as well as their stated motivations in doing so.
• Analyze and evaluate potential public policy responses to this problem.
• Articulate official APHA policy on consumer access to EC.

Keywords: Access to Care, Contraception

Related Web page: www.edfundfpa.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation