So here’s what we know: Thanks to the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court reversing Roe v. Wade, hundreds of thousands of Americans are no longer allowed to have abortions in nearly a dozen states, and people who don’t want to get pregnant may have to because some pharmacist at Walgreens has a “moral objection” to selling contraception. I’m sorry, but are you fucking kidding me?
NJ.com reports that 21-year-old customer Abigail Martin received a text from her local Walgreens pharmacy telling her she had no refills left on her birth control prescription. When she marched into the store to complain, Martin says a Walgreens employee, who was “wearing two crosses,” told her that she would have to contact her doctor.
“I said, ‘You won’t refill it, or you can’t refill it?’” Martin said.
RELATED STORY: Roe v. Wade reversal not only erased our civil rights, it also raised the risk of domestic violence
Martin called her doctor, who told her she had four refills on the prescription. The doctor’s office called Walgreens. Then Martin received two more texts, one saying the medicine was delayed and another alleging it was “out of stock.”
Finally, Martin found a pharmacist willing to refill her birth control. But according to Martin, the pharmacist asked her to identify the person who initially refused to order the refill. Martin described the employee and the pharmacist replied, “I know exactly who that is, and we’ve been having this problem for the last two weeks.”
Walgreens posted the company’s policy on Twitter back in 2018, which allows pharmacists the right to “step away” from filling “a prescription for which they have a moral objection.” The statement also states that the pharmacist is “required to refer the prescription to another pharmacist or manager on duty to meet the patient's needs.”
But it seems cases such as Martin’s are beginning to ramp up in a post-Roe world.
Nate Pentz and his wife Jess were in a Walgreens in Hayward, Wisconsin, on July 3 when they were refused condoms by a cashier.
The employee told them he wouldn’t sell them the condoms because of his “faith.”
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And in another case, a customer who simply goes by Nicole on Twitter said that one week after purchasing an at-home pregnancy test at her local Walgreens, she received a box of Enfamil baby formula at home.
Nicole tweeted that since she used her Walgreens rewards card, she believes the company was able to track her by accessing her private information and sending the formula to her home.
“THERE IS A FORMULA SHORTAGE, and yet @Enfamil is sending out formula all willy-nilly based on the data you clearly sold them… Shame on you, @Enfamil,” Nicole tweeted.
“Second, what if I were desperately trying to get pregnant and can’t?” Nicole wrote in a tweet thread. “Wouldn’t this be a kick to the face?!... What do you say to the women in states where abortion is now illegal?... Are you trying to make a political statement, or is this just a big money grab?”
She ends by stating that the Enfamil box was labeled “regiftable.” “Kiss off,” she tweeted. “From all the women who actually need this box that you are not helping.”
So, again, here we are: Laws are controlling our health care decisions, and people like Walgreens employees are imposing their religious beliefs on others.
But in reality, none of this will stop people from getting contraception or abortions. In fact, according to CBS News, women from surrounding states are flocking to Florida to Planned Parenthood facilities in order to receive abortions.
"We had to increase our staffing. We had to increase our appointments," Dr. Samantha Deans, the associate medical director of Planned Parenthood of Southeast and North Florida, told CBS News.
In early July, Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper issued a temporary injunction to block the state law that would have prevented abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The injunction puts a hold on the 15-week ban and will remain in effect “until the 1st District Court of Appeal - or possibly the Florida Supreme Court - rules on the state's appeal,” CBS News reported on July 13.
Politico reports that according to a Florida Agency for Health Care Administration report, 79,000 women received abortions in Florida in 2021, including 4,873 who came from outside of the state. Florida has the third-highest rate of abortion in the nation, followed by New York and Illinois.
Pro-life activist and founder of Florida Voice for the Unborn, Andrew Shirvell, told CBS News, "Florida is turning into an abortion destination state here in the South … We need a total ban on abortions here."
Of course, the next episode to the frightening unscripted reality show that has become America is locking up health care providers and those who attempt to travel to safe states for abortions. Stay tuned.
NJ.com reports that 21-year-old customer Abigail Martin received a text from her local Walgreens pharmacy telling her she had no refills left on her birth control prescription. When she marched into the store to complain, Martin says a Walgreens employee, who was “wearing two crosses,” told her that she would have to contact her doctor.
“I said, ‘You won’t refill it, or you can’t refill it?’” Martin said.
RELATED STORY: Roe v. Wade reversal not only erased our civil rights, it also raised the risk of domestic violence
Martin called her doctor, who told her she had four refills on the prescription. The doctor’s office called Walgreens. Then Martin received two more texts, one saying the medicine was delayed and another alleging it was “out of stock.”
Finally, Martin found a pharmacist willing to refill her birth control. But according to Martin, the pharmacist asked her to identify the person who initially refused to order the refill. Martin described the employee and the pharmacist replied, “I know exactly who that is, and we’ve been having this problem for the last two weeks.”
Walgreens posted the company’s policy on Twitter back in 2018, which allows pharmacists the right to “step away” from filling “a prescription for which they have a moral objection.” The statement also states that the pharmacist is “required to refer the prescription to another pharmacist or manager on duty to meet the patient's needs.”
But it seems cases such as Martin’s are beginning to ramp up in a post-Roe world.
Nate Pentz and his wife Jess were in a Walgreens in Hayward, Wisconsin, on July 3 when they were refused condoms by a cashier.
The employee told them he wouldn’t sell them the condoms because of his “faith.”
Campaign Action
And in another case, a customer who simply goes by Nicole on Twitter said that one week after purchasing an at-home pregnancy test at her local Walgreens, she received a box of Enfamil baby formula at home.
Nicole tweeted that since she used her Walgreens rewards card, she believes the company was able to track her by accessing her private information and sending the formula to her home.
“THERE IS A FORMULA SHORTAGE, and yet @Enfamil is sending out formula all willy-nilly based on the data you clearly sold them… Shame on you, @Enfamil,” Nicole tweeted.
“Second, what if I were desperately trying to get pregnant and can’t?” Nicole wrote in a tweet thread. “Wouldn’t this be a kick to the face?!... What do you say to the women in states where abortion is now illegal?... Are you trying to make a political statement, or is this just a big money grab?”
She ends by stating that the Enfamil box was labeled “regiftable.” “Kiss off,” she tweeted. “From all the women who actually need this box that you are not helping.”
So, again, here we are: Laws are controlling our health care decisions, and people like Walgreens employees are imposing their religious beliefs on others.
But in reality, none of this will stop people from getting contraception or abortions. In fact, according to CBS News, women from surrounding states are flocking to Florida to Planned Parenthood facilities in order to receive abortions.
"We had to increase our staffing. We had to increase our appointments," Dr. Samantha Deans, the associate medical director of Planned Parenthood of Southeast and North Florida, told CBS News.
In early July, Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper issued a temporary injunction to block the state law that would have prevented abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The injunction puts a hold on the 15-week ban and will remain in effect “until the 1st District Court of Appeal - or possibly the Florida Supreme Court - rules on the state's appeal,” CBS News reported on July 13.
Politico reports that according to a Florida Agency for Health Care Administration report, 79,000 women received abortions in Florida in 2021, including 4,873 who came from outside of the state. Florida has the third-highest rate of abortion in the nation, followed by New York and Illinois.
Pro-life activist and founder of Florida Voice for the Unborn, Andrew Shirvell, told CBS News, "Florida is turning into an abortion destination state here in the South … We need a total ban on abortions here."
Of course, the next episode to the frightening unscripted reality show that has become America is locking up health care providers and those who attempt to travel to safe states for abortions. Stay tuned.