Dear NC Legislator:

I was recently alerted to the problem of pharmacists on their own refusing to dispense birth control including the 'morning after pill' to women that have come to them with a valid prescription. I have written to several pharmacy chains regarding this apalling practice and the inapropriateness of pharmacists making decisions for women they don't know after she and her doctor have made the most apropriate choice within her circumstances. I find it horrendous that this type of behavior be condoned and accepted not only by pharmacy owners (I received an automated letter from Walmart that they allow their pharmacists to refuse to fill a birth control prescription) but also by this state. I have also read an article in today's Washington Post that the Governor of Illinois has passed a law banning this practice. I urge you to take the necessqary steps to do the same in the name of decency and democracy and to support the inailenable rights of women as equal citizens in a secular democracy. Women are more than 50% of the democratic process and we have had to fight long and hard to gain our rights as equal citizens.

As this proves again, we are still not considered equal citizens and there seems to be a certain segment of American society that still believes that they can control women by controling our sexuality. As an equal citizen I cannot abide that someone foreign to me try to impose their religion on me especially when they are stepping on rights that were long ago acheived and accepted through long struggle. Women are perfectly capable of coming to intelligent reproductive decisions on our own within our own relationships and comunities without the assistance of the state. Do not set us back!!! I also urge you to read the report on the content of Abstinence Only Sexual Education created by the office of Rep. Waxman.

I can't even begin to say anything about that other than to express my incredulity that this is accepted curiculum and is being taught in North Carolina. I as a proud Southerner I get very tired of being seen and portrayed by the rest of the country as backward hicks, but when I see actions such as I have described I cannot do anything but hang my head in shame and wonder if they are right. You have the power to address these issues with resounding action and show that North Carolina's Democrats have moral values that are just as strong and respectable as anyone else's and are based on treating all people equally in a fair and just manner and respecting the rights of individuals even if they act contrary to your own beleifs. Thank you. Please see the attached documents.

Regards,
Jennifer

Pharmacies Required to Fill Prescriptions for Birth Control

The Waxman Report