Afraid of the Truth About Plan B

“Why are you afraid to post the real exchange?” asks Geoff Simpson in this post.

We aren’t afraid to post the real exchange. I’m assuming that the additional comments Mr. Simpson has left in the comments box came later than the version I received. I’ve pulled them out and posted them here for all to see.

Mr. Simpson: I'll attach a copy of the mailer since you apparently have not seen it. I did not violate anyone's rights, on the contrary, I am trying to protect people's rights against activist pharmacists who choose to lead the charge to prevent women from preventing an unwanted pregnancy.

My mailer stated my position clearly: “Decisions about family planning should be made by women, with their families and doctors. Not by pharmacists, insurance companies or politicians.” Mr. Ramseth stated his position clearly in the newspaper: In the mind of pharmacist Jim Ramseth, there is a moral hierarchy when it comes to preventing pregnancy: Selling condoms and birth control pills is OK. But the emergency contraception known as Plan B is not, and Ramseth refuses to provide it.

How is repeating his own statement a violation of the Constitution?

AIW: We’ve attached the flier here for all to review. The idea that Mr. Ramseth is “leading any kind of charge” is simply laughable. I don’t know him but he seems to be an honest man trying to make an honest living who doesn’t want to participate in the taking of a human life or the abuse of women by rapists, abusive boyfriends, Planned Parenthood and the pharmaceutical industry.

Mr. Ramseth is free to violate his own conscience. You are free to violate your conscience, which you are doing quite nicely as you go skipping down the lane with Planned Parenthood and NARAL. A woman is free to violate her own conscience by procuring abortion or contraception. The problem is that YOU hope to use the power of the state to force Mr. Ramseth to violate his conscience and deny him an opportunity to earn a living. That is against the constitution of the state of Washington and United States. Maybe you just don't understand the First Amendment. Here's a link to the Constitution.

In fact, the court in Chicago agrees with me and Mr. Kahler on this point. Judge Jeanne E. Scott has allowed for the lawsuit filed by the Illinois pharmacists who were fired after refusing to distribute the Plan B to proceed to trial. Specifically she said that if proven at trial, the pharmacists’ allegations, “may establish that the object of the Rule [morning-after-pill mandate] is to target pharmacists, such as the Plaintiffs, who have religious objections to Emergency Contraceptives, for the purpose of forcing them either to compromise their religious beliefs or to leave the practice of pharmacy." Gee, that sounds an awful lot like what a certain legislators in Washington are trying to do.

Mr. Simpson: As a full-time professional firefighter, I am not free to deny emergency medical care because of my personal point of view. I am required to treat everyone equally.

AIW: Plan B is NOT medical care. It is an overdose of hormones that alters a woman’s normal healthy condition. It has negative short-term side-effects. The long-term side effects are yet to be determined, but if the known side-effects of OCs and other contraceptives are any indication of what's to come, the best interests of women’s health will not be served by passing out Plan B like Chicklets. Plan B is not health care anymore than salting a field is agriculture. If the firefighters of this state actually believe that contraception and abortion are “health care,” and if being pregnant or having sex is an “emergency” then God help us all.

Mr. Simpson: I'm glad you asked: (Mr. Simpson was asked to provide a source for his contention that “Thousands of abortions per year could be averted and millions in scarce health care dollars saved if emergency contraception were more readily available”, and provided this link.)

AIW: For me this is probably the saddest part of this whole exchange because it shows how easy it is to dupe well-meaning people like yourself. Here it is in a nutshell: They lied to you to get your support for Plan B. They made promises they knew they couldn’t deliver or had no interest in delivering. Now that Plan B is over the counter they’ve backpedaled, and admit it won’t have the impact they said it would. Here they are in their own words:
"It will not reach that potential," Jackie Payne, the abortion businesses' director of government relations, told the Associated Press.

And this, “Kirsten Moore, president and CEO of Reproductive Health Technologies Project, conceded there is no evidence that easy access to the morning-after pill reduces the number of pregnancies or abortions.”

In real life, not six year old position papers published by people who make their living off pushing abortion or contraception, the facts show increased abortions and VD, here, here and here. The abortion industry makes $400 to $600 per abortion. Can you explain to me why they would push a drug that would supposedly cut their revenue so significantly?

As for this state, we are holding steady at about 25,000 abortions a year, with the number of first time abortions actually increasing, and we’ve had widespread access to EC since 1997. Are you willing to reverse your support for Plan B if we continue to see no decrease in abortion or an increase in abortions and/or rates of VDs? We've actually seen an increase in Chlamydia since the introduction of EC to this state.

Plan B was a drug developed with the financial assistance of Planned Parenthood of Western Washington to aid and abet sexual activity by teens and keep money for contraception, abortion and VD treatments flowing into Planned Parenthood’s coffers. That’s the real drain on the state’s precious health care dollars and they’ve got you thinking you’re helping women. How tragic.

Mr. Simpson: I've stated my position and I stand by it.

AIW: Stand by what? The lie that EC will reduce the number of abortions and save millions in “scarce health care dollars”? The argument from a position of self-interest that you aren’t advocating a repeal of the First Amendment for certain groups of people? The laughable idea, but apparently flattering thought, that you are protecting women from some little old man in a white lab coat. Please. You really don't have a very high opinion of women if you think that we can't stand up to a pharmacist or are too stupid or lazy to find another pharmacy.

Mr. Simpson: Although it is theoretically possible, there is no scientific evidence that Plan B prevents implantation

AIW: Do you remember those Seattle firemen who went into the burning building because they thought there might be some homeless people inside? There was no “scientific evidence” that they were inside but they didn’t want to take that chance that someone might die.

You might also consider why the consent form that women are forced to sign includes this telling line: "...it may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb..."

And why does the approved EC education program for pharmacists in Washington tell readers that preventing the implantion of the blastocyst in the endometrium is one of EC's mechanisms?
Mr. Simpson: You are free to draw the line where you wish. I choose to demand that all pharmacists provide Plan B or turn in their licenses.

AIW: Back to Mr. Kahler’s and Judge Scott's point, which you’ve proved quite nicely – Shame on you for advocating the denial of First Amendment rights to the pharmacists of this state.

I would encourage you to open your mind, forget about anything you might owe Planned Parenthood, and peruse our other articles in this topic. It's never too late to do the right thing.

Further Reading:
Prescriptive Authority Agreements for EC in Washington
Your Friendly Neighborhood EC Certified Provider
Emergency Contraception Consent, Release and Assessment Form
Are You Experienced?
Mixed Messages
Rates of Chlamydia Rise after Introduction of Plan B to Washington