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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2008)
4 MAY 15, 2008 Smoke Signals Pro-Choice Oregon dispenses information to pharmacists about emergency contraception By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon is the first among state advocacy groups to put together a project to dispel misconceptions about emergency contraception, and to make those forms of contraception available whenever they are necessary for women 18 and older. The statewide project started in 2005, two weeks after Pro-Choice Oregon Executive Director Michele Stranger Hunter came west from similar advocacy work in Massa chusetts. She received a phone call from a woman who asked not to be identified. The woman told Hunter this story: "I am a mother of two who has had four miscarriages. At my last doctor's appointment, my doctor rec ommended that I have a prescription for emergency contraception filled just in case as another preg nancy could be dangerous for me." When her husband stopped by to pick up the prescription, "there was a new pharmacist on duty. She came around the corner and told him that, although the prescription was filled, she refused to sell it to us because she objects to all forms of contraception. "Then she began to lecture my husband, within clear earshot of other pharmacy patrons It seems that this female pharmacist does not believe that I am making a 'wise deci sion' even after consulting with my personal ObGyn." She went on to tell Hunter that her worry was not so much for herself, because she had the means and knowl edge to go elsewhere for the prescrip tion, but, said Hunter, she was worried about young girls who don't have op portunity, means or knowledge. A "young girl's whole life can be changed in that one brief encounter," the woman said. "Within 48 hours," Hunter said, "we had called a press conference." The pill form of emergency contra ception, also known a9 the "morning after" or the "day after" pill, "is a birth control pill with a short-term higher dose," said George Gerding, a Portland-based, semi-retired con sulting pharmacist. He is a former member of the state Hoard of Phar macy. "You can do the same thing by taking several birth control pills at once," Gerding said. Gerding is part of a team that Pro-Choice Oregon has recruited lo ensure that emergency cont racept ion is available when needed. Also joining forces with Pro-Choice Oregon in Don Downing, a clinical professor nt the University of Wash ington School of Pharmacy, who has talked to "close to 20.000" pharma cists in 2") states. lie rounds up groups in many dif ferent and creative ways seeking part it'ularly to talk to those who have elected not to provide the product about "What do we know? And what don't we know? (about emer gency contraception). What are the myths? And let's talk about them." he said. Downing has been active in Or egon, reaching out to the state's more j - f T"",T. 7Z?77i C XX rrjl r f yir- i Jj Ifssr-i v i PlanB ) iLtVUNUKOuiRLL) Emtrftncy Contrcptrivt .J Photos by Michelle Alaimo Above, George Gerding, right, and pharmacist Sherry Barrett, pharmacy manager at Bi-Mart in Monmouth, talk about the emergency contraceptive Plan B at the store's pharmacy on Monday, April 5. Gerding is a pharmacist, consulting for NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon Foundation, educating health care providers about Plan B. Spirit Mountain Community Fund contributed $5,000 to the foundation in 2007 and the money was put towards emergency contraceptive education. At left, Bi-Mart pharmacy manager Barrett displays the emergency contraceptive Plan B. Editor's note: This is the fifth in a monthly series of stories in 2008 by Smoke Signals that will showcase the real-life effects of Spirit Mountain Community Fund donations. Since its inception in 1997, the Community Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, has donated more than $40 million to groups in 1 1 western Oregon counties. These stories focus on the good work those generous Tribal dollars do within nearby communities and the effect they have on people and programs. than 800 pharmacists. He explains that this pill does not stop a preg nancy. It prevents fertilization from taking place. Downing begins by asking phar macists how many are opposed to emergency contraception, said Pro-Choice Oregon's Political and Field Director Iaura Taylor. Typi cally, 20 percent to 30 percent raise their hands. He tells them to keep their hands up and asks thnt group, "How many have had a woman call and say, 'I've forgotten to take my pill?' And they keep their hands up. Then, he says, 'How many have recommended that they double up on their birth control pills for a few days? They all keep their hands up. So, then he tells them, 'You've just dispensed emergency cont rnrrpt ion. It works the exact same way.' " The Oopper-T Intrauterine Device is also used to prevent pregnancy on nn emergency basis. For Pro-Choice Oregon. Downing gives the group presentations and Gerding follows up to see if the in formation has been digested. The groundwork for the project that started in I vine County last year came from Spirit Mountain Com munity Fund's $5,000 contribution in 2007. On May 9, the Community Fund board was reviewing Pro-Choice Oregon's most recent request for $25,000 to continue to expand the pharmacist-to-pharmacist program across the state. In Lane County, 41 of 67 pharma cies stocked emergency contraception before the Pro-Choice Oregon training began, and 45 stocked it afterwards. Sixteen pharmacists gave some bad information before training, and six dispensed some bad information af terwards, according to information provided by Pro-Choice Oregon. Emergency contracept ion has been studied since the 19(0s and contro versy has followed. In the 1970s, Ar kansas made it legal for pharmacists to decline to deliver a prescription for abortions or emergency contracep tion. Three ot her states have followed in the years since. On the other hand, seven states have policies requiring pharmacies to provide the medication, and seven other states have policies prohibiting obstruction to providing it. Downing convinces most pharma cists about the ethical soundness of emergency cont racept ion. Anecdotal reports indicate that a smoll number of pharmacists in Oregon, where the policy proh ibi t s obst met ion. cont i nue to decline to fill emergency contra ception prescriptions based on their beliefs about right-to-life issues. These pharmacists come out in sharp relief in small, rural commu nities where there may be only one pharmacy, and a long way to the next one. Oregon Right to Life, for example, reported last year in its Life in Oregon publication online, "Pro lifers oppose the use of the drug (emergency contraception) because it can cause an abortion in some circumstances." To Downing, this is one of a num ber of pieces of misinformation com ing out of both sides on the issue. "We absolutely know that it does not cause an abortion," he said. "Abortion is something legally and medically defined. A lot of people say, 'Well, we don't like that definition.' " From the left, he said, we hear that "emergency contraception is known to decrease, in a community wide way, unintended pregnancy and abortion rates. We don't have anything that supports that." The amount of misinformation is a lot smaller now, and the Pro-Choice Oregon project to make that number zero continues to educate. "Most who refuse (to provide emergency contraception) haven't reod the literature," Downing said. "Frankly, they have listened to the media, their neighbors, basing it off misinformation. And given access to good information, they frequently change their minds. "The real joy of doing all this work in Oregon is you give them facts, they change their minds and they dramatically improve access. And that's encouraging."
