Kroger, We Know What You Did in Georgia!
By Nancy Keenan, president, NARAL Pro-Choice America
I just got off the phone with Dionne Vann, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia. She had some good news to report from Atlanta—so I wanted to spread the word as fast as possible.
Long story short… today is not the day to work in the PR department for the conglomerate grocery store chain Kroger—and it all has to do with one courageous woman joining forces with Dionne at NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia to raise the public’s awareness of a pharmacy refusal incident.
Here is the story…
Carrie Baker, a resident of Rome, Georgia, walked into her local Kroger pharmacy to purchase the Plan B emergency contraceptive—some call it the “morning-after” pill.
As you know, the Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception for women 18 and older last year. It is a safe, effective form of back-up birth control—and NARAL Pro-Choice America and its affiliates have launched a campaign to ensure that all national pharmacy chains adopt a written policy guaranteeing to their customers that they’ll stock this over-the-counter medication.
This is yet another example of why such a campaign is so necessary!
In Carrie’s case in Georgia, the pharmacist on duty refused…yes, that’s right, refused…to sell her Plan B and said the pharmacy didn’t stock it.
Carrie could have walked away from that experience, but she didn’t. Instead, she stood with NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia and state legislators outside the state capitol to share her story and call on Kroger to end its policy of allowing pharmacists to refuse to help women access Plan B.
We already have some early media reports, and my understanding is that several TV crews and print reporters showed up to interview Carrie.
Things are happening in Georgia, so go to ProChoiceGeorgia.org and join the affiliate’s EC campaign. If you live outside Georgia, there are ways for you take action by joining our PLAN B. Where’s Yours? Campaign.
Better yet, if you live in an area with a Kroger pharmacy, walk in there this weekend and say, “Kroger, we know what you did in Georgia!—and we’re not going to stand for it there or anywhere else.” Let Carrie’s courage inspire you like it did me.
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i personally dont like abortion as a way to get rid of unwanted pregnancys, but i also dont like any company / pharmacy's employees making the decision to deny something that has been legalized , its not in my opinion any business of these rightwing wacko supposed christian group's to be in the business of government policys, these pharmacist's should be fired and have their license revolked for life, and the company they work for should be fined bigtime, for each offence, bush and company are the worst thing to ever happen to this country, period...!!!something in this country needs to be done to get us back to a normal way of life, there is supposed to be a separation of church and government,what and why is this even allowed? it's obvious someone is being paid well to go against the will of the people, it also seems that some states with too many wacko's making up laws to conspire against the will of the peoples choice need to be revamped by the federal government- ( not bushes government ) which is in my opinion illegal. bush sr. and his hedgehogs in the supreme court that put bush jr( draft dodger ) should also be in jail for the way they have destroyed this country, the oil men are worse than horse theifs,
William, regardless of whether Kroger is a private or public business is not the basic issue. The issue is whether anyone including a pharmacist has the right to deny a the purchase of a drug by imposing their own personal values on the situation. In this particular case, it seems to me that if the dispensing of any drug, including the Morning After Pill, is in opposition to a particular pharmacist, the action to take is to turn it over to another pharmacist and walk away from the situation. I do not impose my personal believes on anyone and I don't expect anyone else to impose theirs on me. This is America. The Morning After Pill has been approved by the FDA for over the counter sales, period. While I am definitely not a supporter of the Bush Administration, this particular situation is not about George W. It is about right and wrong and the pharmacist was just wrong. Further proof that morals and can not and should not be legislated. It is interesting to me that it is the very group of people, right wing zealots and Christians are the same group of people who do not want birth control taught to our children. Birth control that can help prevent an unwanted pregnancy.