| Birth Control Protection Act |
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The Birth Control Protection Act would ensure that no woman is ever refused her birth control prescription at a pharmacy counter in Wisconsin again. It also clarifies that birth control methods should never be included in the definition of abortion under Wisconsin law--something opponents of birth control have been trying to accomplish for years. |
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 | Bill Status:
Introduced in Senate and Assembly
Passed 19-14 in Senate 3/13/08 |
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| Birth Control: | |
- Birth control is basic health care.
- More than 90% of American women use birth control at some point in their lives.
- Increased and enhanced use of birth control reduces unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion.
- Birth control pills are also used to address serious and painful health conditions, such as endometriosis.
- The availability of birth control signaled a giant leap forward for women's health and safety, for families and for society.
- No woman should be denied her birth control prescription at the pharmacy counter.
- Pharmacists have a legal and ethical obligation to facilitate patient access to safe, legal medication rather than become an obstacle to access.
- The Birth Control Protection Act ensures that pharmacists are not refusing to fill safe, valid birth control prescriptions based solely on their personal beliefs.
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| BCPA Introduced in Response to Attack on Health Care | | Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin applauds Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson (D-Beloit) and State Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) for introducing the Birth Control Protection Act (BCPA), Senate Bill 232. The BCPA requires that pharmacists dispense all safe, valid birth control prescriptions and clarifies that contraceptive methods should never be included in the definition of abortion under Wisconsin law.
The legislation comes at a critical time for women's health in Wisconsin, after family planning funding was virtually eliminated in the Assembly's budget, which that house passed just under a week ago. The BCPA counters these anti-family and anti-women measures with a commonsense approach that secures women's access to their prescriptions.
With the Republican controlled Assembly recklessly endangering women's health in its latest budget, this bill is more important than ever. This legislation recognizes that Wisconsinites strongly support better access to birth control, even though some in the state Assembly are clearly out of touch with these widely held beliefs.
Though the BCPA draws a sharp contrast with the latest Assembly budget, polls indicate that Senator Robson and Representative Sinicki's legislation is in step with Wisconsin voters. A recent poll showed that 86% of Wisconsin voters support improving access to birth control.
The public overwhelmingly believes that no woman should go through the humiliation of being denied her legal, safe birth control prescription at the pharmacy counter. With renewed efforts to impair women's access to necessary health care at the state and national level, we applaud this initiative that will protect and enhance women’s access to necessary medications. |
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| Health Care Professionals Support BCPA | | Dr. Calvin Bruce, a family physician in Madison who spoke at the bill's introduction, told PPAWI he supports the bill because it would ensure that his patients receive the care he prescribes.
"As a doctor, I put a lot of thought and effort into a patient's treatment. I welcome the thoughtful input of pharmacists in reviewing my prescriptions for valid medical reasons such as patient allergies and drug interactions, but that does not give the pharmacist the right or authority to ignore my prescription in the absence of a legitimate medical contraindication," said Dr. Bruce. "It is important to remember that birth control pills are prescribed for many reasons besides contraception. It is really not the pharmacist's role to make any conclusions or judgments about the patient’s medical condition or need for a given medication."
Wisconsin law states that pharmacists have a legal obligation to dispense medications (Wis. Stat. Sec. 450.13(1)) and cannot take any actions which harm the health, safety or welfare of a patient or the public or discriminate against patients because of gender (Pharm 10.03). The Wisconsin and national code of ethics for pharmacists establish that the practice of pharmacy must be patient-centered, rather than self-centered around the personal beliefs of a pharmacist.
"Most pharmacists take their obligation to facilitate patient access to safe, legal medication very seriously, but there must be a safeguard to protect women from being humiliated at the pharmacy counter by someone who decides to put their own personal beliefs first," said Bruce. "We need to send a clear message that in Wisconsin, we expect all health care professionals to put patients first." |
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| Birth Control Protection Act Picks Up Even More Support | | PPAWI applauded Wisconsin's Pharmacy Examining Board for putting women's health first by supporting the Birth Control Protection Act. The Pharmacy Examining Board issued two letters in September that called on Assembly Health Committee Chair Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) and Senate Health Committee Chair Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) to pass the important legislation, detailing its support for the bill and why the bill is necessary.
In the letters, Pharmacy Examining Board Chair Michael Bettiga wrote that “pharmacists have a duty to facilitate patient access to safe and valid prescriptions” without exception:
[Pharmacists] have the duty to refrain from conduct that is dangerous to the health, welfare or safety of patients and the public and to act within the standard of care… Pharmacists have a duty not to discriminate on the basis of gender. There is no exception for a pharmacist who refuses to dispense because he or she has personal objections to an FDA-approved drug, irrespective of whether or not it is a birth control drug.
In addition, the Pharmacy Examining Board recognized that birth control does not cause an abortion.
We thank the Pharmacy Examining Board for recognizing what the public overwhelmingly supports--that no woman should go through the humiliation of being denied her legal, safe birth control prescription. We urge the Legislature to listen to this important message and pass the Birth Control Protection Act, so that no woman will have to face discrimination or delay at the pharmacy counter. |
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| Senate Health Committee Urged to Support Birth Control Protection Act | | PPAWI testified in support of the Birth Control Protection Act during a hearing before the Senate Health Committee. This proactive, commonsense initiative would ensure that no woman is ever refused her birth control prescription at a pharmacy counter in Wisconsin again. It also clarifies that birth control methods should never be included in the definition of abortion under Wisconsin law--something opponents of birth control have been trying to accomplish for years.
Wisconsin law states that pharmacists have a legal obligation to dispense medications (Wis. Stat. Sec. 450.13(1)) and cannot take any actions which harm the health, safety or welfare of a patient or the public or discriminate against patients because of gender (Pharm 10.03). Despite these laws, there are instances of renegade pharmacists in Wisconsin refusing to fill valid birth control prescriptions based solely on their personal opposition to the use of birth control pills. Neil Noesen, the Menomonie pharmacist who was disciplined by the Pharmacy Examining Board in 2005 for refusing to fill or transfer a woman’s birth control prescription, cited the current law’s lack of an explicit prohibition on birth control refusal as justification for his behavior.
Everyone, especially abortion opponents, should be able to support this bill, which facilitates a woman’s access to safe, legal birth control prescriptions. We know that access to birth control is a key component in making sure women aren’t faced with unintended pregnancies. Access to birth control is a key component in reducing the abortion rate as well.
The public overwhelmingly supports this bill. In a June 2007 Mellman poll of 600 likely Wisconsin voters, 84% supported requiring pharmacists to dispense safe, legal birth control prescriptions without harassment or delay.
This bill is good for women and good for Wisconsin. It's time to listen to the people, who are calling on the legislature to make the Birth Control Protection Act law. |
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| Senator Vinehout Turns Her Back on Wisconsin Women | | Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) offered amendments to the Birth Control Protection Act that gut the bill and leave Wisconsin women in danger of having pharmacists and pharmacies refuse to fill their legal, safe birth control prescriptions.
The first amendment eliminated the clarification in the bill that birth control should not be included in the definition of abortion in Wisconsin statutes.
It's a sad day when legislators like Senator Vinehout perpetuate myths about birth control that only serve to block a woman's access to birth control. It’s entirely inexplicable why some legislators refuse to acknowledge the scientific fact, undisputed in the legitimate medical community, that birth control pills do not cause an abortion.
Vinehout's second amendment allows pharmacists and pharmacies to refuse to dispense birth control prescriptions for "moral or religious" reasons. Though the amendment states that the pharmacist must ensure that the patient will have access to the contraceptive "elsewhere," it fails to define the scope of responsibility owed to the patient and the specific actions the pharmacist must take.
We are very disheartened that a person who has advocated for greater access to health care doesn't extend that principal to women who need access to birth control. Her amendment legalizes sex discrimination against women by allowing pharmacists and pharmacies to deny women access to safe, legal birth control because of a personal opposition to birth control.
Vinehout's amendment is contrary to representations she has previously made to women's health advocates, including Planned Parenthood, about supporting access to birth control and opposing pharmacist refusal bills. It is also contrary to the 84% of Wisconsin voters who support requiring pharmacists to dispense safe, legal birth control. |
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