Women Sue Wal-Mart Over Morning-After Pill Associated Press
| Julie Battel, of Boston, left, Rebekah Gee, of Boston, center, and Katrina McCarty, of Somerville, Mass., listen to a reporters question during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2006, in Boston. The three Massachusetts women, backed by pro-abortion rights groups, sued Wal-Mart on Wednesday, saying the discount retail giant violated state law by failing to stock emergency contraception pills in its pharmacies. (AP/Bizuayehu Tesfaye) | Backed by abortion rights groups, three Massachusetts women sued Wal-Mart on Wednesday, accusing the retail giant of violating a state regulation by failing to stock emergency contraception pills in its pharmacies.
The lawsuit, filed in state court, seeks to force the company to carry the morning-after pill in its 44 Wal-Marts and four Sam Club stores in Massachusetts.
The plaintiffs argued that state policy requires pharmacies to provide all "commonly prescribed medicines."
Wal-Mart carries the morning-after pill in Illinois only, where it is required under state law, said Dan Fogleman, a spokesman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart.
Fogleman said the company "chooses not to carry many products for business reasons." He would not elaborate. But in a letter to a lawyer for the plaintiffs, a Wal-Mart attorney said the store chain does not regard the drug as "commonly prescribed."
CVS, the state's largest pharmacy chain, stocks the pill at all of its drugstores. |