Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Might have known this would happen sooner or later

They have this problem all over the place in the US. Pharmacists refusing to hand over the morning after pill. Of course this story covers the very very nice end of the spectrum - the couple in question actually do feel in some way ready to have a child. Elsewhere is isn't going to be so pretty. It's going to be teenagers too afraid and intimidated to seek help elsewhere. It's going to be women who are physically handicapped and have been advised not to have children as it might jeopardise their own health. Its going to be people having treatments for other illnesses which are likely to harm the child. And its going to be people who for whatever reason do not want to have children, who don't feel they're ready for children. And the children will suffer too.
The pharmacist has I think broken the law by not offering information on where else to go for the drugs. Also insisting that the reason for refusing the pills is "high morals"?! I have "high morals" and among them is I think people have the right to chose what medication they take for themselves.

Of course the article only bothers interviewing the woman cos as we all know girls - its our own fault if we get pregnant isn't it? Men have nothing to do with pregnancy whatsoever!

Weirdly at the same time, thanks to increased traffic on here after I was listed in the britblog round-up of UK blogs, people are arguing that pregnant women (and women who MIGHT get pregnant) should be excluded from the job market! And then we discover that women who try to avoid getting pregnant are refused the help they are entitled to. To the untrained eye it might look as if it had very little to do with "high morals" or "economic rational" and everything to do with deep-seated wide-spread misogyny.

4 comments:

Andrew said...

we discover that women who try to avoid getting pregnant are refused the help they are entitled to.

Pedantically, in the case in question, the woman was already pregnant. She wasn't trying to avoid getting pregnant. But what is wrong with making decisions on moral grounds? I'm sure you do it. Would you have dinner with George Bush, for example?

people are arguing that pregnant women (and women who MIGHT get pregnant) should be excluded from the job market.

No, they aren't. They are saying that legal solutions aren't working to fix the problem of discrimination in the job market, so we should probably re-think that approach.

To the untrained eye it might look as if it had very little to do with "high morals" or "economic rational" and everything to do with deep-seated wide-spread misogyny.

Yes, it's all about misogyny. The whole world hates women and wants them to suffer... Come on Cruella - there are far better explanations for these issues than this right-on stuff.

Cruella said...

No-one is even trying to apply the legal solution to the problems of discrimination against women in the workplace. That's the point of my previous post. And if you look at the comments received you'll see several of them clearly state that they feel women should be excluded from the jobs market.

A quick read through the comments should answer your next point too, there's a heck of a lot of misogyny right here on my blog in the comments I get - and that's only the comments I don't delete - there's usually one or two a day that are just so offensive I have to delete them.

handdrummer said...

The pharmacist should claim to be acting from religous principles, then we'd all have to deeply respect and celebrate their right not to give the pill.

Who are these people? Where do you find them, Cruella? I'm so sorry they find you.

In the US, it is the physician that decides what medications are to be prescibed, not the pharmacist. Maybe it's different in Britain, as it is in France and Italy. But here, a pharmacist is ethically (and in some states legally) required to fill a properly written script. End of story.

Sadly, some corporations (Wal-Mart in particular) have caved into pressure from the religious right and are ignoring this fundamental ethical code. Others, CVS in particular, have stood tall in the face of much pressure from these nutjobs and are firing any pharmicists who fail to fill a legally written script.

I say to these religious wackjob pharmacists, if your religious views interfere with your job, you are free to find a job at a facilty run by a religious organization. Same for MDs. and nurses who won't perform abortions. There are plenty of hospitals out there which by policy don't do so. Go to work for them.

Keep the rest of us out of your religious delemmas.

handdrummer said...

As I don't have your email, ARE YOU OK?

Damn cowardly bastards.

Sadly the blowback begins from our stupidity in Iraq and our failure to finish the job in Afghanistan.

Damn Bush and Blair as well.