From the post:
Well, the other day we decided to be extra-safe and to get the Plan B pill from Walgreens here in town. My girlfriend went and requested Plan B, equipped with the knowledge that it's a non-prescription drug available with ID. She said the pharmacy worker started asking for proof of insurance in order to get the pill. My girlfriend refused and asked to speak to someone in charge. The pharmacist then came, and my girlfriend told him she simply wanted Plan B and that her ID should be good enough. The pharmacist then went about getting the pill, but they also seem to have a policy, a lá abortion clinics, of forcing a waiting period of an hour and giving adoption literature to the person requesting the contraceptive. Now, Plan B is just an additional spermicide, not an abortion pill, but that's another can of worms. In the end, my girlfriend demanded the Plan B immediately, and she got it, but not without a fair amount of interference on Walgreens' part. They also insisted on writing down her driver's license number.
Pretty ballsy of the holier-than-thou Walgreen's employees. Encouraging, though, that the woman stood up for her rights. How many women do you think that particular Walgreen's dissuaded before she came along?
The story got me thinking: Have our readers encountered the same hassles? And what's the law in Florida?
Well, as you might of guessed, we're not progressive when it comes to consumer rights and contraception. A family planning law passed in 1992 and amended in 2000 allows Florida physicians and pharmacists to refuse to furnish any contraception or family planning services or information for religious reasons. (See a list of state laws here.)
In addition, many pharmacies just don't carry Plan B. Sometimes even buying condoms can be hassle (as I reported earlier this year). But I've never heard of any pharmacists denying or hassling Floridians trying to purchase Plan B.
Have you?
(h/t to Madfloridian and photo credit: Florian/Flickr)
