Note to Americans: make sure you find out whether your local pharmacy agrees to fill the prescription you think you’ll need before you need it. Articles in The Washington Post, on Alternet.org,  CBSnews.com, and the websites of NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood, and the National Organization of Women report that the number of cases in which pharmacists have refused to fill prescriptions is increasing in America.

In a debate today on The Early Show, presidents of Planned Parenthood and Pharmacists for Life International argued about the right of pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions. Various state laws and refusal clauses allow pharmacists the right of refusal when filling prescriptions goes against their personal moral and religious beliefs.  In response to Pharmacists for Life President Karen Brauer’s statement that pharmacists are as liable as doctors for the prescriptions they fill, Planned Parenthood President Karen Pearl said,

“It’s really a matter of whose conscience matters, and I would say the conscience of the women is the conscience that prevails…[Pharmacists for Life] is a small group of extremists who really want to put their belief system, their ideology onto everybody else, and women in America simply won’t stand for that.”

In her Alternet.org article, “States of Denial,” Abby Christopher draws attention to the fact that currently there is no incentive for hospitals to abide by laws requiring them to make emergency contraception accessible to patients in cases of rape. One implication here is that such a law ties a woman’s decision to be proactive (in seeking medical assistance in lowering her risk of pregnancy) to her identification of herself as a victim (of rape).

NARAL Pro-Choice America has launched a campaign to protect women’s access to birth control in response to pro-life stands being taken by pharmacists, offering two proactive action plans for activists. In the meantime, the National Organization for Women has put together a quick-reference fact sheet which details why women should pay attention to the repercussions of the recently approved federal “Abortion Non-Discrimination Act,” which both overrides Title X guidelines requiring women to be referred for abortions upon their request, and “allows health care institutions to refuse to comply with federal and state regulations regarding a range of abortion-related services, including pharmacist referrals,” according to a heavily referenced article on the Planned Parenthood website.