Boycott Target

Target, if you'll remember, has started allowing its pharmacists to refuse to fill emergency contraception prescriptions (reported first at AMERICAblog). Today, I received a response from Target's corporate office. Here's Target's e-mail:

Dear Target Guest

In our ongoing effort to provide great service to our guests, Target consistently ensures that prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive Plan B are filled. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also requires us to accommodate our team members' sincerely held religious beliefs.

In the rare event that a pharmacist's beliefs conflict with filling a guest's prescription for the emergency contraceptive Plan B, our policy requires our pharmacists to take responsibility for ensuring that the guest's prescription is filled in a timely and respectful manner, either by another Target pharmacist or a different pharmacy.

The emergency contraceptive Plan B is the only medication for which this policy applies. Under no circumstances can the pharmacist prevent the prescription from being filled, make discourteous or judgmental remarks, or discuss his or her religious beliefs with the guest.

Target abides by all state and local laws and, in the event that other laws conflict with our policy, we follow the law.

We're surprised and disappointed by Planned Parenthood's negative campaign. We've been talking with Planned Parenthood to clarify our policy and reinforce our commitment to ensuring that our guests' prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive Plan B are filled. Our policy is similar to that of many other retailers and follows the recommendations of the American Pharmacists Association. That's why it's unclear why Target is being singled out.

We're committed to meeting the needs of our female guests and will continue to deliver upon that commitment.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Hanson
Target Executive Offices

Here's my response:

Jennifer,

Target is being "singled out" because what your pharmacists are doing is wrong. If they don't want to dispense Plan B based on moral or religious views, they shouldn't have gotten into the business in the first place. They should have gotten into the ministry.

Here's how it works: I have a prescription. You fill the prescription. That's all there is to it and anything else, any hemming and hawing, any refusal based on moral or religious grounds, is not only wrong, but also morally reprehensible. And that's a shame, because I used to love shopping at Target. Until you reinstate full compliance with prescriptions, I'll never shop there again. It's as simple as that. And I'm not the only one. There are millions more like me.

You've overstepped your bounds and are posing a safety issue to your female customers, customers who may be coming to your pharmacy as the result of a rape. That Target has chosen to side with overbearing pharmacists and not potential victims is truly shameful. And it shouldn't even be about those extreme examples. If someone needs Plan B, you should be there to fill the prescription. No questions asked.

Don't get me wrong, I think everyone's entitled to his or her own beliefs. But never should those beliefs get in the way of administering potentially life-saving medication. How many lives must Target ruin before its powers that be rethink this terrible policy? What if the "different pharmacy" won't help, either? Or the one after that? I'm sorry, Jennifer, but if the unthinkable ever happens, the blood will be on Target's hands.

If Target sincerely was "committed to meeting the needs" of its female guests, we wouldn't be having this discussion. It's as simple as that.

Thank you for your reply,
Joseph Hughes

Update: Today's e-mail exchange and Target's continued caving in to the Christian Taliban has drawn much attention. Welcome to AMERICAblog and Pandagon readers, as well as everyone coming here from elsewhere. Happy to have you!

Comments

[st3ph]

Great letter to Target. I'm still waiting for a response to the letter that I sent them in reply to the same form letter you posted above. I've sent my latest letter to Target 3 times now, starting on October 26th. I'm going to keep re-sending it every few days until "Jennifer" finally responds to it. I guess she's all out of form letters to send me for now.

[Reba]

What a nice blog you have!

Here's my email to Target:

I have cancelled my credit account with your company and will no longer be doing business with you. I am apalled that you would put the religious beliefs of your pharmacists before my health and well-being. If your pharmacists do not want to do the job for which they were hired, they should find another line of work. I sincerely doubt that you allow your animal rights activists to refuse to sell leather goods to customers based on their strongly-held beliefs, so I see no reason why someone else's religious beliefs should impact my ability to buy a product legally prescribed to me. Please note, I have never filled a prescription at your store and am beyond the point where I have to worry about having more children. That is not the point. The point is that you value the opinions of some employees more than you value the diversity of opinions held by your customers. So much for your hip ad campaigns. I guess you really aren't as inclusive as you pretend to be. I am going to have my husband cancel his account with you and I am going to encourage everyone I know to do the same. The last time I wrote to you regarding this, I told you I wanted a reasoned response to my email. You sent me a form letter. I am sure this will generate another. How unfortunate. I hope your company takes a huge financial hit over this. You deserve no less.