Updated Boycott Walgreens

No but pharmacists are and that’s who their policy applies to.

The incident that started this involved a cashier, not a pharmacist. bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/walgreens-faces-boycott-after-employee-refused-to-sell-minnesota-woman-condoms

How do they know that they are using the pills for birth control? Birth control pills are used for other medical reason not just pregnancy prevention.

Do you have to have a Rx for condoms in the US? Crikey, they sell condoms on the supermarket shelves here in the UK.

I don't know why you feel the need to be rude about this. There are cashiers in a Walgreens that don't work in the pharmacy. If you choose to take your condoms to the pharmacy department to pay, then yes, that cashier works in the pharmacy. but if you go to the regular checkout that person is just a cashier.

The next “Christian persecution” case we’ll see is when stores don’t want to hire Christians any more because they won’t do the job they’re being hired for.

I think the point of the thread is lost. The article was about a regular cashier at Walgreens refusing to ring up condoms as part of a woman’s order. The cashier said birth control was against their religion so they wouldn’t sell the condoms to her. Then Walgreens backed the cashier up saying their policy is their workers can follow their religious beliefs.

It all sucks. What I do or don’t do with my body is my business. I particularly am pissed about the pharmacists objecting. I worked in healthcare and it horrifying to think that anyone in a hospital could arbitrarily decide not to provide care because they object to my religious beliefs or anything else about me they don’t like. I provided care to people with HIV, to a prisoner that was a child molester (it was really hard to be civil to that person), an alleged murdered (The hospital I worked at was closest large hospital to a prison), drug addicts, and general assholes. While I had my own thoughts about these patients I never once even considered not doing my job because I objected to them in some way. In the end they were humans that came to the place I worked and needed help and that was my job.

I do want to clarify with me mentioning HIV above…when I worked in healthcare HIV/AIDS was still pretty much a death sentence and there was a lot of prejudice. I never, ever looked down or judged anyone for it. My position was and is that it’s a virus and it does what viruses do…takes any opportunity it can to spread and infect. And my job was to do whatever I could do to help patients. Even the one guy with AIDS that liked to spit on you or try to mess up blood draws and get you to prick yourself with needles used on him hoping to infect others.

Right? I don't get to pick and choose which parts of the curriculum I follow, or which kids I teach, based on my personal beliefs. In fact I spend a fair amount of time accommodating others' beliefs. But a cashier can just decide not to do part of their job? Please. It's ridiculous. 

And if there was a shortage, or no one available when needed, the patient would just ... go without care?

I can’t believe the national chain is supporting this. The issue with “religious objections” from pharmacist has already been affirmed. I think it’s a dangerous, awful, policy but I would understand if this was a pharmacist. Walgreens is allowing cashiers to decide what to sell or not is expanding this non-sense to a new level.

I agree. If you refuse to perform the *essential functions * of your job, why are you there? It just makes me so mad whenever the assurance that “someone else will fill the prescription” is trotted out. We have seen that there are some stores where no one will provide birth control bc they all have religious objections and there is not an abundance of options in every city.