Wal-Mart screws women who were screwed the night before

We control every aspect of your life, now shop, dammit
July 20, 2005

In case of Plan B, there is not Wal-Mart—The Evil Empire, more widely known as Wal-Mart, has a surprise for women going to its zillion pharmacies to fill a prescription for Plan B, the “morning after pill.” Sorry—we don’t carry that. Since for many women in the rural areas of the U.S., Wal-Mart is their only pharmacy, they are doubly screwed. Wal-Mart’s excuse is that they are catering to their rural—and supposedly Conservative clientele—but of course that’s who they are harming. They are the only major chain taking that attitude but many others, including RiteAid, allow individual pharmacists to decline to fill those prescriptions if they object on moral grounds, and the legislatures in more than a dozen states are now considering legislation protecting pharmacists who refuse to sell the pill—a pill that is 85% effective in preventing pregnancies. This is typical of the chain, which censors books (try to find Jon Stewart’s “America-the Book” or George Carlin’s “When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops.”) Record companies and film companies regularly consult to make sure they are not trampling on the giant’s acute sensitivities. [That’s just one of the reasons I never go there]. But there may be good news ahead. Wal-Mart has just about filled every vacant lot and destroyed just about every town center in the rural U.S., and is now looking to expand into cities, peopled with folks who likely don’t take kindly to stores telling them what they can buy and most particularly what medicines they chose to take. Analysts think the chain will eventually have to moderate its policies. I still won’t shop there. For a good story on same, see AlterNet.