A few weeks ago, I was buzzing through Walgreens taking advantage of a little toy sale they had and getting a few other things. Having my 9 month old in the small cart and the 2 year old on my hip made for an interesting visit. My two year old is your average two year terror, wiggly and curious.
The worst part about a shopping trip with a toddler is when you have to stop. As long as you are moving, they move along with you. When you stop, they want to keep going – anywhere! So here we were at the checkout aisle…

me: got to just quickly check out! toddler: look at everything I can grab!


…when something caught my eye. You must know that I’m also a woman who has a deep love for women and children. I’m against abortion in all its forms, seeing it as another exploitation of women. I believe we can do better. Women deserve better.
You can imagine my surprise then when I was standing in line to check out I saw this.

Cough drops, snickers, potentially abortion-inducing drug, little cutesy key chains! Take your pick!

Right next to the snickers, gum, cough drops, is “PlanB”. No age restriction on purchase, no prescription necessary. My toddler of course running crazy and I was just shocked to see this so “in your face”, I just took a photo to document it. We bought our items and left. But I had such a sick feeling in my stomach. How could a product like that be put up next to candy bars like it is no big deal?  All other contraceptive products are at least in the “family planning” where a client can choose to avoid them if they want, but this was right there in your face whether you liked it or not.

I have to admit I didn’t know all the details about PlanB so I did a little research. I found many different sources, but here is what Webmd says:
“5. How does Plan B One-Step work?
Plan B One-Step works like other birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. The drug acts primarily by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary. It may prevent a sperm from fertilizing the egg.
If fertilization does occur, Plan B One-Step may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb. If a fertilized egg is implanted prior to taking Plan B One-Step, the drug will not work and pregnancy proceeds normally.
6. Does Plan B One-Step have any side effects?
Like any medication, Plan B One-Step does have side effects. The most common side effect is nausea, which occurs in about a quarter of women after taking the drug. Other side effects include abdominal pain, fatigue, headache, dizziness, vomiting, and menstrual changes. If you vomit within two hours of taking Plan B One-Step, consult a health care professional to find out if you need to take another dose.”
So, it is a drug designed to take the day or two (up to 72 hours) after sexual intercourse and avoid a pregnancy. However, if conception has already occurred, it prevents the egg from implanting. It claims to not affect an already implanted egg.
But – woah – did you see that? Did you catch what they just did there? With just a twist of words, they have said it prevents “pregnancy” saying pregnancy “begins at implantation.” No one is talking about human life beginning, just pregnancy.  By their own account, it prevents implantation. So, if someone believes that life begins at conception (which a great many people do), then this product can cause an early abortion and end a human life. (And that’s not even going into the debate of whether they can prove that it wouldn’t affect a fertilized egg that has already implanted. Many argue that this claim cannot be proven and therefore this drug could potentially cause an abortion to an implanted fertilized egg, aka conceived child, as well.)
It was in 2009 that it became a for sale “behind the counter” drug (no prescription necessary) to anyone 17 and older and in 2013 the age restriction was removed and it became an “over the counter” drug. Anyone of any age can buy this at any time. (But did you know that you need to be over 18 to buy Sudafed? But not PlanB…but I digress…)
However, pushing it at the front checkout line of all places could only encourage its dangerous use (some dangers including: – it triples the rick of ectopic pregnancies  (a life-threatening condition if left undetected), – it fails 1 in 10 times, & – It is labeled as a group 1 carcinogen, the same cancer risk as cigarettes. See planbfacts.com or exposeplanB.com for more info) and especially eases the ability that women could be abused and forced to take this “one time contraceptive.”
With all this in mind, I felt that inner nudge. I had to act. I’m not a confrontational person. Really I’m not. I’ve always been strong, but I do not enjoy the confrontation. Regardless of my personality, though, I knew I had to take a stand on this. The next day I went in to Walgreens and spoke to the manager about the placement of the PlanB at the checkout counter and how it could be seen as inappropriate. I asked to know whose decision it was. She told me everything placed there is what they want to sell more of and it is a corporate decision, but she’d be happy to give me their number. I accepted the offer.
I called and left a message at Walgreen corporate fully expecting I wouldn’t hear back from them. It took a few days, but I received a voicemail from a woman asking me to call her so they could fully “address my concerns”. When we finally connected, I explained to her the concern I had about such a product being at the front checkout counter. She asked where I had seen it and said she would look into it and get back to me taking down my number and email. (This incidentally also happened to be my birthday.)
Later that day, she emailed asking for one more day to give me their official response. I replied thanking her, telling her that was fine and sent her the photos I had took (the ones posted above) as proof. Again, I was bracing myself for a “we stand by our decision” response, but I did find out in the meantime that this wasn’t the case for all Walgreens across the country. At my mother’s local Walgreens in Louisiana, she couldn’t even find PlanB much less see it anywhere at the checkout counter.
I did receive an email back then from Walgreen corporate last Friday the 7th and it said this was their official statement:
“We agree that this product shouldn’t be merchandised at the checkout counter, and we have communicated that to our stores. The particular store you visited has removed it from that area.” – Emily Hartwig, Corporate Media Relations, Walgreen Co., 108 Wilmot Road, Deerfield, IL 60015
Wow! I was surprised and so pleased! Our nanny offered to check at the store on her way home just to verify if what they said was true and this is what she saw:

PlanB gone!


Well, happy birthday to me! The tag was still there but all the product had been removed.
I appreciate Walgreen’s response and ability to hear and respond to the customer’s concerns. I’m sure they still sell it (which is unfortunate), but at least it is now kept in a more appropriate place.
Moral of the story, my dear friends:
– Be courageous. It may seem like you can’t make a difference, and it may seem like no one listens, but you never know when what you say might just fall on the ears of the right person at the right company at the right time.
Or
– Getting all pro-life activist on a pharmaceutical company on your birthday might just pay off. 😉
 
Theresa Martin is a blogger and author, follow her blog at NewFeminismRising.com