By Rachel Hart, Reproductive Freedom Project at 4:48pm
The Portland Press Herald in Maine has a great op-ed from State Representative Sherry Huber in response to a recent decision by the Portland School Committee allowing a local middle school's health center to dispens
By Rachel Hart, Reproductive Freedom Project at 12:12pm
A new report by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization indicates that between 1995 and 2003 the rate of abortions worldwide declined. The most dramatic decline occurred in Eastern Europe and corresponds with substantially increased contraceptive use in the region. Of course, the Bush Administration continues to push ab
By Rachel Hart, Reproductive Freedom Project at 4:13pm
Last week, Congress once again extended funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Curious at how state and federal dollars are spent across the country supporting abstinence-only programs? Below is a summary from recent news clips.
-- Earl School District in Arkansas and Reality Check, a local abstinence-only-until-marriage organization, Read More»
By Rachel Hart, Reproductive Freedom Project at 2:04pm
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard argument today in Roe v. Crawford, a case dealing with the right of prisoners in Missouri to access timely, safe, and legal abortion care. The ACLU argued the class-action lawsuit on behalf of
By Rachel Hart, Reproductive Freedom Project at 2:36pm
Over the last week, school districts all over the country have grappled with the issue of sex ed.
In El Dorado, Kansas, the school board will vote tonight on whether or not to adopt the abstinence-only-until-marriage curriculum Choosing the Best. Read More»
By Rachel Hart, Reproductive Freedom Project at 11:16am
Over the last several weeks op-eds and editorials supporting comprehensive sex ed have appeared in papers across the country. This is not at all surprising given that the end of summer marks the beginning of a new school year.
An editorial in the Athens Banner-Herald out of Georgia encourages the Read More»
By Rachel Hart, Reproductive Freedom Project at 3:25pm
Most people don't think twice when they visit their local pharmacy to fill a prescription. A doctor writes a prescription and a pharmacy dispenses it, right? Well, more and morepeople are discovering that the answer is often not quite that simple.
Back in 2005, the Washington State Board of Pharmacy began to hear reports of pharmacies and pharmacists denying patients access to prescriptions -- usually contraceptives -- because of moral, ethical, or religious objections. State regulations were silent on the issue and so the Board took on the lengthy task of developing rules.
The result: new rules that protect a patient's right to access health care without discrimination or delay, and which make clear that a pharmacy is responsible for filling all valid prescriptions and satisfying all lawful requests for drugs like emergency contraception that certain patients can get without a prescription from behind the counter. Under the rules, pharmacies must dispense medications regardless of pharmacists' personal feelings about a particular medicine. Pharmacists may ask another pharmacist on duty to provide the medicine, but in all cases the pharmacy must fill the prescription in a timely manner.
There is no doubt that a delicate balance exists between a patient's right to access medication and a pharmacist's right to object on a moral, ethical, or religious basis. Committed to both issues, the ACLU has worked to develop a framework that protects the health care needs of patients and the religious freedom of individual pharmacy employees. Our publication Religious Refusals and Reproductive Rights: Accessing Birth Control at the Pharmacyissued in April puts forth the ACLU's position:
