Greetings Activist!

Just fourteen days ago PPLM announced our support for a lawsuit brought by three Massachusetts women against Wal-Mart for their failure to stock emergency contraception. Yesterday the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously to require Wal-Mart to stock and sell Plan B at its 44 Massachusetts pharmacies. A Wal-Mart spokesman has said the chain plans to comply "as soon as reasonably possible," and is seriously considering changing their national policy!

This is a great victory for women's health, and we would like to thank all of you who took action during this campaign. We'd like to particularly thank the many of you who volunteered to visit four local Wal-Mart stores armed with prescriptions on Saturday, February 25th. Due to the success we have achieved in this campaign, we are now able to cancel these events.

However, the fight is not over! This victory is proof that activism still matters. Three courageous Massachusetts women went up against the world's largest retailer, and they won. This is terrific news, but it is only the first step. We now encourage you to turn your efforts towards Wal-Mart's national policy. We need to make sure that women across America will never again have to worry about whether their valid prescriptions will be filled at any Wal-Mart store.

If you have not done so already, we urge you to send an e-mail to Wal-Mart's CEO, Lee Scott, demanding that they change their national policy of not stocking emergency contraception. Emergency contraception is the first and only medication Wal-Mart has banned from its shelves, denying access to millions of female customers. Urge Wal-Mart to demonstrate their commitment to women's health by stocking this important drug.

To send an email, visit Wal-Mart's feedback form at http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=221 
You can use the letter below, or modify it to tell your own story.  If you get a response from Wal-Mart, please pass it on to us at GetActive@pplm.org.

I am writing to raise my voice in opposition to Wal-Mart's corporate policy of not stocking emergency contraception. I read recently that Wal-Mart is reconsidering this policy, and I urge you to do so without delay. Birth control is basic health care, and restricting access to birth control prescriptions is nothing short of discrimination. I call on Wal-Mart to put women's health first by stocking emergency contraception, and filling prescriptions for all birth control, in-store, without any delay or discrimination.

Until your company adopts and makes public a policy allowing women to purchase the birth control products they need, including emergency contraception, I plan to spend my money elsewhere.

Sincerely,