Pharmacy Refusals

In addition to broad laws permitting religious refusals to provide reproductive health care services, some states have enacted laws or policies that specifically govern refusals to dispense medication in the pharmacy. The Report Card examines whether states have a specific law or policy that protects women’s access to contraception at the pharmacy.

Does the state have a law or policy that protects women's access to contraception at the pharmacy?

States receive a "meets policy" if they require pharmacies or pharmacists to ensure that patients receive their medication. States receive a "limited policy" if they allow refusals based on personal beliefs but prohibit pharmacists from obstructing patient access to medication. States receive a "weak policy" if they do not have a specific policy that addresses the issue of refusals to provide medication in the pharmacy. States receive a "harmful policy" if they permit refusals without critical patient protections, such as requirements to refer or transfer prescriptions.

This is a new indicator for the 2010 Report Card.

State	Strength of Policy	Change from 2007
Alabama	Limited Policy	N/A
Alaska	Weak Policy	N/A
Arizona	Harmful Policy	N/A
Arkansas	Harmful Policy	N/A
California	Meets Policy	N/A
Colorado	Weak Policy	N/A
Connecticut	Weak Policy	N/A
Delaware	Limited Policy	N/A
District of Columbia	Weak Policy	N/A
Florida	Weak Policy	N/A
Georgia	Harmful Policy	N/A
Hawaii	Weak Policy	N/A
Idaho	Harmful Policy	N/A
Illinois	Meets Policy	N/A
Indiana	Weak Policy	N/A
Iowa	Weak Policy	N/A
Kansas	Weak Policy	N/A
Kentucky	Weak Policy	N/A
Louisiana	Weak Policy	N/A
Maine	Meets Policy	N/A
Maryland	Weak Policy	N/A
Massachusetts	Meets Policy	N/A
Michigan	Weak Policy	N/A
Minnesota	Weak Policy	N/A
Mississippi	Harmful Policy	N/A
Missouri	Weak Policy	N/A
Montana	Weak Policy	N/A
Nebraska	Weak Policy	N/A
Nevada	Meets Policy	N/A
New Hampshire	Weak Policy	N/A
New Jersey	Meets Policy	N/A
New Mexico	Weak Policy	N/A
New York	Limited Policy	N/A
North Carolina	Limited Policy	N/A
North Dakota	Weak Policy	N/A
Ohio	Weak Policy	N/A
Oklahoma	Weak Policy	N/A
Oregon	Limited Policy	N/A
Pennsylvania	Limited Policy	N/A
Rhode Island	Weak Policy	N/A
South Carolina	Weak Policy	N/A
South Dakota	Harmful Policy	N/A
Tennessee	Weak Policy	N/A
Texas	Limited Policy	N/A
Utah	Weak Policy	N/A
Vermont	Weak Policy	N/A
Virginia	Weak Policy	N/A
Washington	Meets Policy	N/A
West Virginia	Weak Policy	N/A
Wisconsin	Meets Policy	N/A
Wyoming	Weak Policy	N/A

Policy Indicator Counts

Meets Policy:

8

Limited Policy:

7

Weak Policy:

30

No/Harmful Policy:

6

Better:

0

Same:

0

Worse:

0

Data Source: National Women's Law Center, "Partners in Access: A Toolkit for Working with State Pharmacy Boards to Stop Refusals in the Pharmacy," January 2008, available at http://www.nwlc.org/resource/partners-access-toolkit-working-state-pharm..., accessed September 20, 2010, and Unpublished Data collected in 2010.