The blue and green captions gracing the cover of each “Plan B” brochure insist that even “when things don’t go as planned,” women have options. Although the signature slogan refers to unprotected sex and faulty contraceptives, some local pharmacists relate it to a faulty legal system.

In light of recent moral and legal debates surrounding emergency contraceptive distribution, medical professionals in Champaign-Urbana have varying opinions on the impact of the emergency rule that Gov. Rod Blagojevich filed on April 1.

The temporary rule requires all Illinois pharmacists to disperse emergency contraception without delay to anyone with a prescription for it. If they do not have the pill in stock, the pharmacist has to order it, or direct the patient to a pharmacy that does.

If made permanent by the state legislature, the law will deny pharmacists, regardless of their personal objections, the right to choose which drugs they stock and distribute.

Blagojevich made the rule after a pharmacist at an Osco Drug in Chicago’s Loop refused to fill a customer’s prescription for EC.

Many staff members at McKinley Health Center said they were pleased with the governor’s actions. They said they feel that if pharmacists are required to stock and distribute the morning-after pill, women will not have to wait to receive the best health care available.

According to Denise Watkins, nurse practitioner in the Women’s Health Department at McKinley, this proposed law would ensure that the female student body has access to all the medical care they require.

McKinley serves about 700 students every week, and about 50 percent of them are in search of some form of contraception, she said.

Watkins said McKinley has not declined to fill any student requests for emergency contraceptives.

Connie Shapiro, professor of family studies at the University, agreed with Watkins, explaining that all women should have ready access to the morning-after-pill. This is particularly an issue for women in rural communities, Shapiro said.

“Not all women have a pharmacy down the street and another around the corner in case the first does not have the medication,” Shapiro explained. “All medical professionals should serve their customers, regardless of their personal views or whatever condition the patient arrives in.”

According to Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life International (PFLI), rural women are aware that they might not be granted a prescription. Therefore, no pharmacy should be forced to carry emergency contraception. As a resident of Lawrenceburg, Indiana – a town of 4,600 people near Cincinnati, Ohio – she said she understands exactly what it is like to live far from comprehensive medical care.

“For all our specialty drugs, we have to wait,” Brauer said. “We knew that when we moved to the country – the best way for women to get a drug is to get on the phone.”

Pharmacists for Life has 1,600 registered members and has become well-known for their anti-abortion statements. Brauer, who was once fired from a Kmart pharmacy in Ohio after refusing to fill a prescription for emergency contraception, thinks the drug is is harmful.

“They want the public to think that this drug (Plan B) doesn’t kill, but it does,” Brauer said.

She said she thinks Blagojevich and Planned Parenthood, a prominent pro-choice group, are to blame for killing countless human beings in the embryonic stage of life.

“We don’t need Planned Parenthood to think for us,” Brauer said. “Planned Parenthood is behind the governor’s actions to remove the human right to avoid killing.”

She predicts that if Blagojevich’s rule is enforced, pharmacists who oppose the law will quietly look for another position.

“They are forced to choose between their job and something they know is harmful to women,” she said.

Many local pharmacists declined to state their position on this issue due to privacy policies. ÿHowever, several agreed that many problems will arise if pharmacists are denied the right to refuse prescriptions.

Roger Eagan, who works for a local pharmacy, said that although he cannot speak for his employers, his religious faith deeply affects his opinion on the drug, but not his decision to fill a prescription. ÿ

“I am a pharmacist, not a moralist,” said Eagan, who did not want to disclose his employer because he didn’t want to speak for his company. “It’s not my place to judge other people’s decisions based upon their relationship with God.”

Moral and religious reasons aside, Alhreish opposes Blagojevich’s attempts to force pharmacists to prescribe emergency contraceptives, or any other medication.

“Pharmacists should always have a choice, or else there is no point in having a pharmacist to counsel you,” Alhreish said. ÿ

Several local pharmacists would not comment on whether they support Blagojevich’s rule – however, some pharmacists said they agree with Brauer that there are legal and ethical problems that will arise from denying pharmacists the right to refuse prescriptions.

“There is a legal question of whether pharmacists have the right to control the medication that they stock,” Shapiro said.

Moral and religious arguments aside, Alhreish said he opposes Blagojevich’s attempts to force pharmacists to prescribe emergency contraceptives, or any other medication.

“Pharmacists should always have a choice, or else there is no point in having a pharmacist to counsel you,” said Suhail Alhreish, president of the Pre-Pharmaceutical Club and senior in LAS.

Alhreish criticized the ease with which University students can obtain, and potentially abuse, emergency contraceptives on campus.

“On Monday mornings outside McKinley, (Plan B) is given out like candy,” Alhreish said.

Alhreish works at Carle Rx Express pharmacy, which does not stock the drugs for economic reasons and lack of demand.

“I am so glad we don’t even stock (the drug),” Alhreish admitted. “If there is no demand for a drug, it is not a good idea to stock it.”

Watkins and Shapiro also said that the legality of forcing doctors to prescribe medicine on demand is open to debate.