Plan B: Ridiculous denials

A pro-choice organization announced on Wednesday that 10 percent of the state's pharmacies don't carry or dispense the emergency contraceptive drug Plan B.

Depending on where the court case goes, there's a chance that none of the pharmacies in the state will have to dispense Plan B if either the owner of the pharmacy or the pharmacists working there feel that doing so would violate their religious beliefs.

NARAL Pro-Choice Washington (the state affiliate of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) did a phone survey and found that 10 percent of pharmacies surveyed in the state don't stock Plan B or have at least one pharmacist on staff who refuses to dispense the hormonal form of birth control, which some opponents mistakenly refer to as an abortive agent.

Ten percent might not seem like a large number, but it seems ridiculous that women can be denied access to a legal, nonprescription medication at all.

If things can get tricky for a woman refused Plan B in a city, imagine the distress of a woman in a more remote or rural area, where another pharmacy isn't just a few blocks, but possibly many miles away. And with Plan B, time is of the essence.

Denying a woman this form of contraception on demand and on time is essentially the same thing as forcing a pregnancy -- and possibly an abortion -- upon her and her partner. And no pharmacist has a right to do that.