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Monday, October 24, 2005

Here is why the right for a woman to control her own body HAS to be inviolate
Posted by Jill | 5:28 PM

Life for women in George W. Bush's America:

Although it is safe, effective and legal, emergency contraception - the "morning after" pill - can be hard to find in Tucson.

After a sexual assault one recent weekend, a young Tucson woman spent three frantic days trying to obtain the drug to prevent a pregnancy, knowing that each passing day lowered the chance the drug would work.

While calling dozens of Tucson pharmacies trying to fill a prescription for emergency contraception, she found that most did not stock the drug.

When she finally did find a pharmacy with it, she said she was told the pharmacist on duty would not dispense it because of religious and moral objections.

"I was so shocked," said the 20-year-old woman, who, as a victim of sexual assault, is not being named by the Star. "I just did not understand how they could legally refuse to do this."

But many stores are. A 2004 survey of more than 900 Arizona pharmacies found less than half keep emergency contraception drugs in stock, with most saying there is too little demand, but some cite moral reasons, according to the Arizona Family Planning Council.

Yet, family-planning agencies say they've seen a 60 percent increase in demand for the drug in recent years. The statistics are creating what advocates say is a frightening situation for some women. But others are glad pharmacists have a choice.

Women who report sexual assaults to police receive treatment, examination and the immediate offer of emergency contraception at a local emergency room, according to the policy of most Tucson hospitals.

But, like many sexual assault victims, the 20-year-old woman did not report the assault because she felt traumatized and guilty she had put herself in a situation that left her vulnerable. She was mistakenly locked outside a gathering at a friend's house and accepted the offer of a neighbor to stay at his place.

"This (sex) was with someone I did not even know and did not want to have intercourse with, and I am in no place now to have children," she said. "I just don't think this should be the pharmacist's decision."


This is just inexcusable. It's obvious that the Christofascist Zombie Brigade has decided to make America's pharmacies the front line in their battle to make sure that unchaste women are punished -- even if they're raped.

The other aspect of this story is the notion that because a woman does something not terribly bright (i.e. getting locked out of a party and accepting what was obviously not just a kind offer from a neighbor), that she somehow deserves to be punished.

These people hate women. They are so terrified of our sexuality that they can't stand it. Since they can't burn us all as witches, they'll make sure we're punished for "tempting men."

And this, my friends, is why I hate western religious tradition.

(hat tip: Americablog, where John also has an update on Target's policy allowing its pharmacists, and presumably any other employee, to act out their fear and loathing of women in the course of their jobs.)
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