Emergency Contraception Access Project

[eridani]

http://www.prochoicewashington.org/issues/ecap.shtml

If you go to your local pharmacy, will you be able to get Plan B® emergency contraception? That is the question we set out to answer when we launched our Emergency Contraception Access Project back in October.

We compiled a list of the 1,190 pharmacies in Washington State and recruited volunteers to call all of them, surveying pharmacists on whether or not they stocked Plan B®, if they had a pharmacist on staff who refuses to dispense it, how much it costs, whether they were aware that Medicaid covers Plan B®, and other questions about access and availability.

Our volunteers went to work, and completed surveys for 85% of the pharmacies across the state. The results are compelling:

Ten percent of pharmacies in Washington do not stock or refuse to dispense Plan B®.

Many pharmacists mistakenly believe they need a special license to dispense Plan B®.

One pharmacy that does not stock Plan B® referred our volunteer to another pharmacy…that also doesn’t stock it.

Complete survey information is available here, including a map that shows which pharmacies in our state stock Plan B® and which do not.
http://www.prochoicewashington.org/issues/pharmmap.shtml

We are now launching the next phase of our grassroots plan to ensure that all women in our state can access the birth control they need when and where they need it.

Now that we have identified which pharmacies do not stock, our activists can target these pharmacies with educational outreach to make sure pharmacists know what Plan B® is, who can legally access it, and that it is a time-sensitive form of regular birth control, a basic part of women’s health care.

Our activists will also file complaints with the Board of Pharmacy when pharmacists and pharmacy owners continue to be resistant to stocking and dispensing Plan B®. Because one in ten pharmacies is one too many!

That’s where you come in: become a Plan B® activist! Make sure your local pharmacy has the facts on Plan B®, and make sure women in your community can get Plan B® when and where they need it! Contact Rosa McLeod at [e-mail] or [phone] to find out how you can become a part of the solution!

Or sponsor a Plan B® activist! If we are going to be able to reach every pharmacy in the state, make sure they have the facts about Plan B® and make sure that they provide it to the women who need it, we’re going to need all the support we can get. Your donation can go to work right away to help make sure women can access the medications they need without hassle, delay or judgment.

We have more work ahead of us, but with the help of pro-choice supporters like you I know we can win this fight. Thank you for all that you do for the women of Washington.

Sincerely,



Karen S. Cooper
Executive Director
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington


https://id311.securedata.net/prochoicewashington/support/donate.shtml

[uppityperson]

1. Thank you for posting this. I'd read about it but not seen the map.

I'm glad to see my local ones do stock and will give, I had wondered about 1 of them. Thanks.

[uppityperson]

2. Plan B website, just in case you need it (ideas if you can't find a pharmacy)

http://www.fwhc.org/birth-control/ecinfo.htm

[uppityperson]

3. Update:Judge won't lift suspension on Plan B sale requirement (while trial continues)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004184571_webplanb15m.html
Judge won't lift suspension on Plan B sale requirement

TACOMA — A federal judge says Washington pharmacists still don't have to sell the "morning-after pill" if they have moral objections.

It's another court victory for opponents of emergency contraception, sold as "Plan B." Some pharmacists and drugstore owners refuse to sell the pills, because they say the super-dose of birth control is too close to abortion.

The state has tried to force those drug stores and pharmacists to sell Plan B anyway, saying that women have a right to get legally prescribed drugs.

Druggists are challenging the rules on religious grounds. And a federal judge said today that the rules will continue to be suspended while the trial proceeds.

[eridani]

4. Some good news coverage at least

It's been quite a week! NARAL Pro-Choice Washington's Emergency Contraception Access Project has received extensive news coverage. Our volunteers surveyed over 80% of Washington's pharmacies across the state, and found that 10% either do not stock Plan B or have a pharmacist on staff that refuses to dispense it. The results are available in an interactive map on our website.

We held a press conference on Wednesday to release these alarming numbers and the media really responded.

Check out the great stories in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Seattle Times, The Olympian, and KIRO 7
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/351154_planb14.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004181473_planb14m.html
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/359286.html
http://www.kirotv.com/news/15296355/detail.html

Watch the video of the King 5 news report
http://www.king5.com/video/featured-index.html?nvid=217652&shu=1

Look at this pro-choice editorial from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/351355_planbed.html

This is great coverage of a critical issue for women across the state, and it highlights the barriers women face in trying to access Plan B. I wanted to make sure you saw it all!

We'll continue to keep you posted on this ongoing grassroots project to help ensure that the women of Washington can access birth control and Plan B when and where they need it!

[eridani]

5. Activist training sessions offered: first is 3/18 in Renton

EC and Me:
Five Easy Ways to Increase Access to Emergency Contraception
(also known as the “morning-after” pill)

90 minutes of your time at our training on emergency contraception.
10 percent of pharmacies in Washington do not stock emergency contraception, or have a pharmacist on staff who refuses to dispense.
1 person is all it takes to make a difference. YOU can help ensure access to birth control in your community.


NARAL Pro-Choice Washington Foundation will be hosting three trainings in western Washington on five simple things YOU can do to make sure women in your community get the reproductive health care they need and deserve.

Because one in ten is too many.

Join us for our first training in South King County:

When: Tuesday, March 18
Time: 6:30 - 8 p.m.
Where: Fairview Community United Methodist Church
15255 SE Fairwood Blvd.
Renton, WA 98058


For more information on a training near you, or to RSVP, contact Rosa McLeod at [phone] or at RosaMcLeod {at} ProChoiceWashington.org.

Other trainings TBA.

[eridani]

6. In a related vein--abortion access project could use some help

Hello Friends of the CAIR Project,

On Monday, April 14th from 5:00 to 8:00pm the CAIR Project board will be working on mailing out fundraising appeals. This is a fairly large mailing so we would LOVE it if you would join us and help out. We’ll provide snacks and great company

We’ll be doing this in the building that NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is located in (The Colman Building, 811 First Avenue, Seattle, 98104) in the third floor conference room, room 350.

Please let me know if you can come help out for any or all of that 3 hour block of time.

Thanks so much!

Sasha Summer Cousineau

Hotline Coordinator/Board Member
The CAIR Project
www.CAIRProject.org

[eridani]

7. NARAL now has flyers available

Washington State Medicaid covers Plan B® emergency contraception for women who qualify.

For the first phase of our Emergency Contraception Access Project, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington volunteers surveyed over 85% of all the pharmacies in the state, asking them questions about Plan B® availability. Our volunteers asked the pharmacists and pharmacy staff that participated if they were aware that Medicaid pays for Plan B® and, if so, if they had ever billed Medicaid for Plan B®. Here are the results:

The average cost of Plan B® at the surveyed pharmacies was $45, with some charging as much as $80.

12% of the surveyed pharmacists and pharmacy staff were unaware that Medicaid covers Plan B®.

An additional 14% were aware that they could bill Medicaid for Plan B®, but had not utilized that option.

This means that at about 25% of Washington pharmacies, there are significant financial barriers to low-income women seeking Plan B®.

That is where the next phase of the Emergency Contraception Access Project comes in. To help make sure every woman, regardless of income, can access Plan B® when and where she needs it, we have produced and distributed brochures for women and for pharmacists that outline Medicaid’s coverage of emergency contraception. We are sending these brochures to pharmacies and community service offices throughout the state. We want to get the word out to as many women as possible that Medicaid will pay for emergency contraception.

http://www.prochoicewashington.org/assets/files/medicaid.pdf
http://www.prochoicewashington.org/assets/files/pharmacistmedicaid.pdf

Our goal is to make sure everyone involved - both the Medicaid-eligible women and the pharmacists behind the counter - is clear on this important way for women to access Plan B®.

NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is committed to expanding access to emergency contraception for every woman who needs it. I am very excited about our ongoing Emergency Contraception Access Project and the impact it is having on women’s lives.

If you would like to get involved in our project, please contact Rosa McLeod at RosaMcLeod {at} ProChoiceWashington.org or 206-624-1990.

Thank you,

Karen S. Cooper
Executive Directo

[eridani]

8. Informational kick n/t

[eridani]

9. Sone of informational kick n/t

[eridani]

10. Return of Son of Informational Kick

:kick:

[eridani]

11. Help keep this up to date n/t

[eridani]

12. Kick n/t