Virginia pharmacy declares it’s “birth-control free”


A pharmacy in Chantilly, VA. has become the seventh pharmacy to be officially certified by the anti-choice group Pharmacists for Life International.

On Tuesday, the pharmacy celebrated a blessing from Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde. While Divine Mercy Care is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, it is guided by church teachings on sexuality, which forbid any form of artificial contraception, including morning-after pills, condoms and birth control pills, a common prescription used by millions of women in the U.S.
“This pharmacy is a vibrant example of our Holy Father’s charge to all of us to wear our faith in the public square,” said Loverde, who sprinkled holy water on the shelves stocked with painkillers and acne treatments. “It will allow families to shop in an environment where their faith is not compromised.”

Because otherwise families will be forced to compromise their faith by shopping at the CVS down the block, where cashiers toss handfuls of birth control pills into the air with wild abandon, buckets of NuvaRings are for sale right next to the cash register, and every aisle contains giant posters of copulating couples with taglines like “SEX WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES!” (Kidding.)
Seriously, though, Jessica at Jezebel explains why this matters:

So what’s the big deal, you may think, this pharmacy is in the D.C. area, competing against thousands of pharmacies that do dispense birth control. But, as former Planned Parenthood lawyer Roberta Riley points out, “in parts of Montana, women must drive 80 miles to find a pharmacy willing to sell contraception,” because so many pharmacists are practicing their “consciences.”
What’s more, as Tarina Keene, executive director of the Virginia chapter of NARAL notes, “If this emboldens other pharmacies in other parts of the state, it could really affect low-income and rural women in terms of access.” But isn’t denying women their prescriptions illegal? Well, it depends on where you live.

Let’s hope it doesn’t become a full-blown trend.

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