Results tagged “birthcontrol”

Now this is some off the wall ridiculousness right here. A Fairfax County girl was given a two-week suspension and a recommendation for expulsion because she was "caught" taking her birth control pill during lunch last month. Of course, the school's side of the matter is that there is a zero-tolerance policy in the school for any kind of pill -- the Post reports that students are subject to possible expulsion if they bring "any 'controlled substance' or addictive drug regulated by the federal government" on to school grounds. (I'll remember to keep my Advil at home the next time I'm on school grounds in the Commonwealth, then, lest someone with a headache gets expelled.) The teen that was suspended -- an honor student and a letterman, no less -- studied the handbook on drugs and found that not only would her punishment been less if she had been caught with heroin, but that her two-week suspension was the same punishment if she had brought a gun to school. It's understandable that the school wants to curb prescription drug abuse by students, but their blanket reaction to the issue sets a very dangerous precedent -- not to mention the message it sends to other students who might not care to have the school system as a mediator in choices they and their parents make regarding their sexual health. Mark Fisher's column today also covers a similar case -- a Fairfax student caught with marijuana for the second time was threatened with possible expulsion. Sadly, as a result, Josh Anderson took his own life. If these two cases aren't justification enough to take a second look at the rules, I'm not sure what is.

You might remember reading about the Divine Mercy Care pharmacy, a new Catholic retail pharmacy planned for a location near Route 50 in Chantilly, Va., in the Post back in June. Well yesterday the 'Pro-life' pharmacy opened to the public, after having been blessed by a Catholic bishop. The concept behind the store is that it's just like any other pharmacy, except they won't sell birth control pills, condoms, or the morning after pill. They still sell Viagra, however, because obviously men's reproductive health is just more important than women's health. Several states such as California and New Jersey have recently passed laws that force these so-called pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control pills to do their jobs, but Virginia has no laws preventing this kind of store from opening. We guess the nice thing about this store is at least it's obvious about what it's up to, unlike some pharmacists at other retail chains, who could decide to refuse to fill your prescription without any warning.