14 DAY TRIAL // Wal-Mart issued a statement that it will start stocking its stores with morning-after pills, after it was sued by three women for refusing to fill out a prescription.
Katrina McCarty, 29, of Somerville, Julia Battel, 37, of Boston, and Dr. Rebekah Gee, 30, of Boston were refused and turned back when they tried to buy the pill.
A spokesman for Wal-Mart declared that the decision of selling the pills was taken after a directive issued by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy, declaring that the store put a great value on women's health.
Stocks of the pill are only present in Illinois, where the law was issued, the company refusing to have many products on its shelves for undisclosed business reasons.
The case comes after criticism from behalf of the abortion and women's rights groups; still, the decision is challenged by Christian anti-abortion groups which sustain that the pill encourages promiscuous behavior and that this is a form of abortion, since it blocks the egg from being implanted in the uterine wall.
The pill in question contains a high dose of hormones that can be taken until up to 5 days to prevent pregnancy. Wal-Mart is currently urged to stock the shelves with the contraceptive pill in the stores all over the country, not just only Illinois. Its refusal is based on the fact that emergency contraceptive medication has low demand and produces low sales.