ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico announced that Walgreen Co. has given the organization assurance that individual pharmacists’ personal religious beliefs will not prevent customers from filling their birth control prescriptions at any of their pharmacies nationwide. The ACLU of New Mexico, the Southwest Women’s Law Center (SWLC) and Walgreen Co. have been in discussions since a pharmacist at an Albuquerque Walgreens location refused to fill the birth control prescriptions of two women due to his religious beliefs. The ACLU of New Mexico and SWLC believe that this act constitutes sex discrimination and is unlawful under the New Mexico Human Rights Act.

 
Walgreens has assured the ACLU of New Mexico and SWLC that it will take steps to ensure that women receive the appropriate care regardless of the individual beliefs of its employees.
 
“…Walgreens policy is and always has been to provide the highest quality of customer service by filling all prescriptions, including birth control medications, in a prompt and courteous manner…Having said that, we must recognize that there may exist pharmacists who object to filling certain prescriptions based on their religious, moral or ethical beliefs. To balance the needs of our pharmacists and our customers, Walgreens has developed appropriate policies and procedures for our pharmacies to assure that these prescriptions, for example, birth control, are handled as efficiently as other prescriptions without imposing any burden on the customer…”
 
 
The company has also assured the ACLU and the SWLC that Walgreens pharmacy staff has a thorough understanding of corporate policies and procedures related to such matters, having conducted follow-up training with store personnel following the incidents in Albuquerque.
 
The ACLU of New Mexico will continue to confirm that their non-discrimination policy is functioning effectively.
 
“We applaud Walgreen Co. for their good faith efforts to ensure that women are not refused medication because of an individual employee’s religious beliefs,” said ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson. “Individual pharmacists certainly have a protected right to exercise their religious beliefs, but those beliefs cannot cause a company to discriminate against its customers.”
 
 CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or [email protected]

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The labels "pro-choice" and "pro-life" just aren't working anymore. These two terms have defined the battle lines of the abortion issue for decades, but they simply don't reflect how people actually feel about abortion. It's a complicated issue that engenders a whole range of opinions. So instead of trying to fit everyone into one of these two boxes, we need to meet people where they are by talking about abortion in terms everyone can access. The message is simple: we shouldn't interfere with a woman's personal medical decisions because we're NOT IN HER SHOES. Watch this short video for a quick explanation of how this message can change the conversations we have about abortion:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_imN0RUN_8

Planned Parenthood recently released new polling research that shows that nearly one quarter of voters don't identify with the pro-choice/pro-life label dichotomy. Many people feel conflicted about the issue. Many people personally do not like the idea of abortion, but don't feel they have the right to keep anyone else from accessing the procedure. These people don't feel like these labels accurately describe how they think and feel about abortion.

Two thirds of all voters believe that abortion should remain safe and legal. The reason this percentage is higher than those people who self-identify as "pro-choice" is because often those who identify as or lean towards "pro-life" actually say that their personal view of abortion "depends on the circumstances."

So let's start having conversations about abortion that acknowledge that we don't all fit into neat boxes on this complicated issue. It's just not that simple. Talk about how we can't make these decisions for a woman because we're not in her shoes. Then, though you might be tempted, don't describe the shoes. What you consider a good reason to have an abortion might not be a good reason in the eyes of someone else. We want to lead people away from a place of judgement. Instead, we want our conversations to lead others to a place where they are free to acknowledge that that don't know the circumstances that surround the very personal decision to end a pregnancy.

Please take the time to read this short online booklet to learn more about how to have an authentic conversation about this complex topic.