Last week I heard about a woman in Great Falls, Montana, who went to her local, privately owned pharmacy, Snyder Drug (NOTE: this pharmacy is not part of the the larger Snyder Drug/Katz corporation), to fill her birth control prescription. When she went to the pharmacy counter, she received a slip of paper signed by the pharmacy owners (Stuart Anderson, Kurt Depner and Kori Depner) stating that the pharmacy would no longer fill birth control prescriptions.
Adding insult to injury, the note goes onto say that they pharmacy will "continue to serve your prescription needs with utmost care and trust." The customer, who happens to be a 49-year-old woman who is unable to conceive and uses birth control for a medical condition, called the pharmacy and asked one of the owners why the pills were being discontinued. The owner told her that birth control pills are dangerous for women.
News flash to the owners of Snyder Drug — the maternal death rate has fallen more than 60 percent since 1965, when the Supreme Court constitutionally protected the use of birth control in the United States. And if that isn't enough, the infant death rate has declined by more than 70 percent. Birth control is basic health care for women. Not only does it save lives, it helps women and their families prevent poverty and plan their futures. It is mind-boggling to me that women in this country are still denied the right to choose when and whether to have a child.
This isn’t the first foray into the politicizing of women's health for Snyder’s co-owner Stuart Anderson.
On Mother's Day, he signed onto an ad that ran in the Great Falls Tribune stating that:
"The sanctity of human life has always been one of our most cherished heritages. The family unit is the foundation of our society. The devotion and sacrifice of mothers over the years and the continual care and concern for their unborn has been the cornerstone of the family. On this Mother’s Day 2007, we wish to express our gratitude to all mothers for their unselfishness in our behalf. As health-care professionals, we call upon the American people to once again reaffirm the right to life for future generations of the unborn and join with us in our efforts to restore respect, dignity and value to each human life—born or unborn."
I can't imagine walking into a pharmacy and getting a dose of judgment instead of my pill pack. It certainly wouldn't leave me with the feelings of "care and trust" that Snyder’s is promising to its customers. In the town of Great Falls, Montana, it would leave me with fewer choices and greater barriers to deciding when and whether I want to have children. It’s time once and for all to tell all pharmacies — from Snyder’s in Montana to the Targets across the country — that a woman’s health care decisions should be left up to her and her doctor. Period.
UPDATE: We need you to speak out. If you live in Montana, send a letter to the editor to the Great Falls Tribune. And if you don't, post a review of Synder Drug on Yahoo!Local. One woman has already posted this review:
Their service is wonderful. Furthermore, they are doing the work of G*D. They understand that intercourse should only be for procreation. If promiscuous women have a problem with that they are free to get their drugs elsewhere. My husband and I have never used birth control and we have 11 beautiful children; all gifts from G*D. Who are we to think that scientists with their unnatural drugs should interfere in G*D's divine plan?
Bottom line = Great Service & Great Morals.
I don't know about you all, but I wouldn't call a 49-year old woman who uses birth control for a medical condition "promiscuous." We need to speak out so that the residents of Great Falls know what their local pharmacy is really up to.