Plan B Olympia

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND BRING SOMEONE ALONG!

SEPT 7 - Friday - 4:30pm-6:00pm @ RALPH’S
SEPT 12 - Wednesday - 4:30pm-6:00pm @ RALPH’S
followed by
SEPT 21 - Friday - 12:00pm-3:00pm @ BAYVIEW
in an attempt to reach new and returning college students and downtown shoppers in general

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO LET STORMANS KNOW WE WON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!
LET’S MAKE IT BIG!

Some pre-made signs will be on hand if you haven’t had a chance to make your own.

RALPH’S is located at 1908 East 4th Olympia, WA 98506
BAYVIEW is located at 516 West 4th Avenue Olympia, WA 98502

IF YOU’RE UNABLE TO MAKE IT TO A RALLY, BUT WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ACTION:
contact Stormans directly:
Phone: (360) 357-8011
Fax: (360) 943-1284
Email: ralphs@stormans.com

or ask for Plan B at the Ralph’s Pharmacy and if/when denied, file a formal complaint with the Washington State Board of Pharmacy:
(complaint info) https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/hpqa1/disciplinary/complaint.htm

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING RECENT RULING:
https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/hpqa1/HPS4/Pharmacy/default.htm

The boycott continues!

Come join us for a picket action
outside of Ralph’s Thriftway
in support of Plan B availability
Weds, August 29th, from 4:30pm to 6:00pm

HERE IS AN EVENT FLYER (pdf file) FOR DOWNLOAD
- TO PRINT-OUT, DISTRIBUTE and/or forward to others
PLAN B RALLY - PICKET RALPH’S AUG 29th

Thanks so much for your continued support and efforts! and see you on the 29th!

…in front of RALPH’S THRIFTWAY - located at 1908 East 4th Ave, Olympia WA 98506
August 29th - Wednesday - 4:30pm to 6pm

for more information, please email planboly@hotmail.com - we look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you for your support in boycotting Ralph’s grocery store for its refusal to stock and dispense the emergency contraception Plan B, also known as the “morning after pill.” Plan B is an important option for women who seek to prevent a pregnancy after intercourse has taken place. More information about Plan B is online at www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/planB/planBQandA.htm.

Here’s an update on the issue and what’s happening in Olympia:

• We are committed to continuing the boycott as long as Ralph’s limits women’s medical choices by refusing to stock Plan B in its pharmacy. Despite the fact that the FDA now allows over-the-counter sales to women 18 and older, distribution is restricted to pharmacies, so the issue of whether a pharmacy stocks the morning after pill is as important as ever. The boycott extends to include Bayview Thriftway as it is a sister store owned by the same company (Stormans).

• Boycott organizers have made three attempts to meet with Kevin Stormans to discuss store policy, the community reaction, and how we might find common ground. All three times, Stormans refused to talk with us. Continued boycotting shows the stores’ owner how strongly we feel about ready access to emergency contraception. And the boycott has had an impact. The union president reports there have been no boycott-related job losses, but Stormans admitted to The Olympian that Ralph’s and Bayview have lost money because of the boycott.

• The state Pharmacy Board is investigating complaints stemming from ten incidents of Ralph’s refusal to dispense Plan B. While we await the outcome of that investigation, a grassroots effort such as a boycott is an effective way to communicate the importance of keeping Plan B available in our community. As consumers, we can be powerful, especially in an industry like the grocery business, which typically operates within a narrow profit margin. We should not rely entirely on an appointed body (like the Pharmacy Board) to represent our will!

• In order to further protect our right to birth control access, we are looking into ways to address the issue through state law, rather than relying solely on the Washington Administrative Codes decided upon by the Pharmacy Board. Given the results of the recent election, the time seems right for introducing legislation that will accomplish this goal. At our December planning meeting, a committee was formed to meet with lawmakers and explore legislative options to address the availability of Plan B in our state.

• The Plan B Oly boycott organizers are all former Ralph’s and Bayview customers. Many of us share a commitment to supporting locally owned businesses. That’s why many of us shopped at Ralph’s in the first place, before we learned about their refusal to stock emergency contraception. There are other locally and regionally owned shops in town, including the Olympia Food Co-Op (in two locations), Mega Foods and the Wine Loft. It should also be noted that Top Foods is a small chain with just 17 stores, all in Washington state.

It seems that the community needs a reminder that the boycott of Ralph’s and Bayview is still going on.  The typical boycott takes more than two years to have an effect.

We are hoping that since Ralph’s is also feeling legal pressure from the Board of Pharmacy this boycott won’t stretch out that long. The Board investigations should be completed in March or April.  But our hope of seeing Plan B stocked at Ralph’s by the end of summer was a little too optimistic, apparently.

Thanks to all of you who are continuing to support the boycott, despite the personal inconvenience.

Picketers have noticed that there are usually fewer cars in the Ralph’s parking lot a half an hour after we start picketing than when we arrived.  This happens pretty consistently.  There are a lot of people in this community who won’t cross a picket line.  Our presence on the picket line DOES make a difference.

Please try to join us Wednesday from 5-6:30 pm.  Janet will bring lots of signs, as well as some big, new, colorful boycott buttons.  If you’d like a button, but can’t make the picket, email her to work something out.

Thanks for your support!

[from organizer Janet Blanding]

First, my apologies for not updating you sooner. I have been up to my armpits in paperwork regarding complaints to the Pharmacy Board about the difficulties women have had in obtaining Plan B in Olympia.

The Pharmacy Board pulled a sneaky stunt on us – they send each complainant a pile of paperwork to be completed with a ten day deadline! That was after we had all completed the official forms we downloaded from the Department of Health website. Some of us had to fill out 12 pages of paperwork, and get it back to the Board of Pharmacy office within ten days.

Only three of the complainants were able to get it all done within that time-frame.

Fortunately, Plan B Oly activist Jeanne Koenings fired off emails to several local legislators and Christina Hulet, Christine Gregoire’s Health Care Policy Advisor, about this sneaky trick, and they really came through for us. Christina Hulet, Representative Sam Hunt, and Senator Karen Keiser all contacted the Pharmacy Board with objections, and our deadline was extended, allowing at least 16 of the 17 complaints to be kept alive.

I am so grateful to Jeanne, and these powerful political allies who have demonstrated their commitment to women’s rights. They’ll surely be getting my vote!

The Pharmacy Board met on August 31, and voted to proceed with a new draft code, called the “Pharmacist Responsibility Rule” that is much better than the draft code they approved in early June.

The new code requires pharmacists to fill all legal prescriptions except for reasonable exceptions such as drug interactions, suspicion of fraud, non-payment, etc.

Furthermore, the new draft states that pharmacies must stock in “good faith compliance” with the existing WAC that requires a pharmacy to keep all commonly prescribed medications in stock.

This improved rule is without a doubt in response to the overwhelming public outcry against the earlier rule, as well as pressure from Governor Christine Gregoire. As the Pharmacy Board continues investigating the complaints, we are hopeful that they will take disciplinary action against Ralph’s for being in violation of this stocking WAC.

In the meantime, it is important to keep the pressure on by continuing to boycott Ralph’s and Bayview. I have encountered people who thought Ralph’s had already changed its policy and had resumed shopping there. This is not true!

Please let people know that although Stormans is apparently having second thoughts about their policy, they have not announced a policy change or begun to stock Plan B.

Although the FDA has approved Plan B for non-prescription sales, distribution is restricted to pharmacies, so whether or not a pharmacy stocks emergency contraception is just as important as ever.

Word of mouth contact is very important, so wear your boycott t-shirts and buttons, and let people know that the boycott will continue until Ralph’s stocks Plan B. (Email me if you would like a boycott button – my daughter has made dozens, and they look great!)

I know this process is taking a long time. But bear in mind that things are going our way, with the FDA, and with the Washington State Board of Pharmacy. It may take a few more months, but in the end, we will prevail!

Thanks for your support!

A lot of people are wondering if the boycott is continuing, now that Plan B is “over-the-counter.”

The answer to that is yes: we will continue boycotting until Plan B is stocked at Ralph’s.

Although widening access to Plan B is a step in the right direction, the current plan recently approved by the FDA allows only for sales to women 18 and over, with sales allowed only in pharmacies.

This change in status does not mean that Plan B will be available in more outlets in Olympia, so the access issues our community is facing remain very much the same.  (This FDA decision will actually have a far bigger impact on women in other states where a prescription was always required.)

However, in an interview with Brad Shannon of the Olympian, Kevin Stormans stated he will be reconsidering his Plan B policy.  It’s important to keep the pressure on while this is being mulled over.

Let’s continue to show Ralph’s Thriftway how Olympia feels about women’s rights!  Come out and picket with us in front of Ralph’s on Tuesday, August 29 from 5-7.

We got great media coverage this week! Check out these news articles:

• The Olympian: Women contest Plan B stances
• The Seattle Times: Olympia women complain after pharmacies refuse prescriptions
• The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: 9 women complain Plan B not at pharmacies

And both of the Seattle papers had very positive editorials:

• The Seattle PI: Contraception: Politics of Plan B
• The Seattle Times: Editorials & Opinion: Plan B should be readily available

Our events calendar has been updated with planned protests for August.  Please come and support us.  Bring your own signs, or use our stock of big colorful signs.

We’ll also have a table at the Homo A Go Go Craft Fair on Friday with information, buttons, and pledge cards.  Come on over and say hi!