ACLU Cites Walgreens For Refusing Emergency Contraception to Men

[RamboLiberal]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically allows anyone over the age of 17 to purchase emergency contraception regardless of gender, but Walgreens stores in Texas and Mississippi seem to be having trouble enacting that policy. On at least two separate occasions earlier this year, the company denied access to the "morning-after pill" to men who were not accompanied by their female partners.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) cited Walgreens for flouting FDA guidelines in January and May. In November, another incident at Walgreens caught the ACLU's attention again. On Nov. 17 the ACLU wrote on its Blog of Rights: "Couples who work together to make healthy decisions about contraception should be supported. So why is it that local Walgreens in Texas have repeatedly refused to sell contraception to men, despite corporate headquarters policy and federal guidelines to the contrary?"

In the most recent incident, a man named Adam Drake was denied emergency contraception (EC) by Walgreens pharmacist Mydung Le in Houston, because his girlfriend had not accompanied him to make the purchase. Although Drake showed Le identification confirming that his age was 17 or older, Le said she needed age information for the person who would actually take the drug. A store manager agreed with Le, and refused to dispense the medication. However, according to the FDA and Walgreens' own corporate policy, that refusal was illegal.

Drake went to a neighboring CVS that was able to honor his request. It troubles contraceptive choice advocates, however, that both Le and her manager seemed ill-informed about federal guidelines (minimum age update here). They both insisted to Drake that the pharmacist could lose her license if she dispensed emergency contraception to him. The manager went on to suggest that emergency contraception could be used in a predatory way or unlawful way. From the ACLU's Nov. 16 letter to Walgreens, regarding the Drake incident:



Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/23/aclu-sites-walgreens-for-refusing-emergency-contraception-to-men/#ixzz169THsJgE