Its conscientious objection policy, which allows its pharmacists to pick and choose which prescriptions they will fill based on their beliefs, is objectionable. But Wal-Mart deserves kudos for reversing its earlier opposition to dispensing emergency contraception, sometimes called "Plan B," at its pharmacies.
The company — the nation's largest pharmacist — announced Friday that start March 20, all of its pharmacies will stock Plan B.
Previously, the company had argued that emergency contraception — which essentially is a super-dose of birth control pills designed to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex — was not commonly prescribed or within the "usual needs of the community."
On Friday, though, a company spokesman acknowledged the opposite.
The Associated Press reports:
The announcement comes after Massachusetts last month ordered the world's largest retailer to stock the so-called Plan B pill, following a lawsuit by three Boston women against Wal-Mart.
Illinois also requires pharmacies to carry the prescription drug, and those are the only two states where Wal-Mart has so far stocked emergency contraception.
"We expect more states to require us to sell emergency contraceptives in the months ahead," said Ron Chomiuk, vice president of pharmacy for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart.
"Because of this, and the fact that this is an FDA-approved product, we feel it is difficult to justify being the country's only major pharmacy chain not selling it," Chomiuk said in a statement.
As a business, Wal-Mart has the right to decide what it will or won't see in its stores, as long as the product is legal. But its pharmacies also serve a public purpose, assisting in the health care of millions of women. If the FDA says emergency contraception is safe and that it is commonly used, it is only right that Wal-Mart dispense prescriptions.
As for pharmacists at Wal-Mart and other businesses, if they can't bring themselves to dispense an otherwise safe, legal drug, they should find another line of work.
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