Patients have options

The Spokesman’s Nov. 10 editorial on pharmacies and Plan B tells one side of a sensitive issue. Adding to the debate are multiple mechanisms of action involved in emergency “contraception,” including the possible loss of a fertilized egg.

Also, the motive behind the use of these agents differs from routine contraception. Finally, the delay in therapy argument is probably more scare tactic than fact.

Some pharmacies don’t stock Oxycontin. Some close at 7 p.m. Twenty-four-hour pharmacies abound within driving range of rural Washington. Hospitals (even Catholic) offer emergency contraception. A sensible compromise is for pharmacies to inform patients of alternatives with a sign at the entrance, as some have done regarding Oxycontin.

I care about health care for women. In a worst-case scenario, I would want my daughters to see a physician, a counselor and a police investigator – not have sexual assault go unreported.

The paper wonders what sort of slippery slope we stand on when professionals exercise freedom of conscience. I wonder what slippery slope we stand on when professionals don’t.

I would like my banker to use moral judgment. I would like politicians to use moral judgment. I suspect the few that do won’t inconvenience the rest.

Leslie King, RPh

Spokane Valley