Ask the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to join you in opposing legislation that would place a pharmacist's personal preferences over the rights of Ohio women and doctors to have their prescriptions filled without hassle or delay. Ohio lawmakers should be working to increase access to birth control - not restricting it.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I'm an Ohio citizen who opposes Ohio House Bill 469. I ask that you as Director of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy express formal opposition to this bill that runs counter to the interest of public health and patient-centered care.

Contraception is basic health care for women. Ninety-five percent of women in the United States use contraception at some point during their lifetimes. Ohio pharmacies should fill these in-demand prescriptions without delay or hassle.

Refusal clauses are not about conscience. They are about allowing patients to be denied basic health care services by individuals who choose to impose their own ideological beliefs on others.

It is an act of discrimination to refuse to provide legal and medically prescribed family planning services, such as traditional or emergency birth control pills.

The fact that some pharmacists would refuse to provide medically prescribed contraception to their customers only underscores the importance of making emergency contraception as widely available as possible, through over-the-counter access.

The practice of denying patients the right to medical care prescribed by their own physicians should be rejected by the Ohio pharmacist community.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 30, 2006