Jagged Little Pill

First, it was Target that came under the wrath of women’s groups for its decision to allow its pharmacists not to fill prescriptions for the “morning after pill” if it violated the pharmacist’s holier-than-thou religious beliefs.

Now comes word that a major U.S. retailer won’t even CARRY the emergency contraception in ANY of its stores.

1) Which retailer is it?

A) Wal-Mart
B) Costco
C) Walgreens
D) CVS


2) Officials at the retailer in question maintain that the decision is not made on religious grounds, but for business reasons. What “business” excuse did they give?

A) Not enough women are prescribed the pill to make it cost-effective for the retailer to carry it.
B) The pill has a short shelf life, making it too expensive to carry.
C) The retailer makes too much money selling baby formula and diapers, and by lessening the number of babies being born, it would cut into their bottom line.
D) If the retailer did carry the pill, the ensuing boycotts from the Religious Right would hurt its business.



ANSWERS:

1) A: Yeah, it’s Wal-Mart. (Really, you can’t be surprised at by this point, can you?)
2) B: Wal-Mart claims that the drug’s shelf life is too short to make it cost-effective, even though other pharmacists maintain that the pill’s shelf life is a robust two years.