Many of us watched, horrified, as events unfolded across the country this summer in states like Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Dakota, where legislators made deep cuts to family planning and support programs. Many of us, advocates for reproductive rights, want to make our voices heard in advance of the Kentucky 2014 legislative session. We will not tolerate midnight votes trying to push through anti-woman, anti-family legislation.
Reproductive rights for American families are under attack. It’s time to tell our elected officials that “Kentucky families deserve better.” Join us on Saturday, November 2nd for the Kentucky Road Rally for Reproductive Rights, when we will roll into Frankfort to rally on the Capitol steps at 1:00 PM.
That morning, Saturday, November 2nd, reproductive rights supporters from across the state will meet in their locales to decorate cars for the rolling rally, traveling as a caravan into Frankfort to meetup with like-minded Kentuckians from across the Commonwealth. Following the rally, there will be a tailgating celebration where rally participants can learn more about supporting organizations, like the Kentucky Religous Coalition for Reproductive Choice (KRCRC), the ACLU of Kentucky, The A Fund, and the Louisville Clinic Escorts.
We are rallying around four main points of concern:
- Comprehensive Sex Education
Research shows that teens who receive comprehensive sex education are more likely to delay first sex, and to use contraceptives when they do become sexually active, than those who receive abstinence-only information.1
- Contraception Access
Contraceptive use helps avoid HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and reduces the need for abortion, in addition to its family planning benefits.2 However, pharmacists’ refusal to provide birth control has been reported in at least 24 states.3
- Access to Abortion Services
In the United States, 87% of counties lack an abortion provider; 35% of women live in those counties.4 In Kentucky, only two of the 120 counties have an abortion provider, and 77% of Kentucky women live outside those two counties.
- Family Support Services
The Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP) provides access to quality child care for low-income, pre-school-aged children while their parents work or attend education and training programs. Cuts to this program resulted in 8,700 families losing access to quality child care this year, according to state estimates, and an additional 2,900 children will be turned away from the program each month.
Register for the rally on the website, kyroadrally.org. Additional information and engagement can be found on the event’s Facebook page, facebook.com/kyroadrally, or Twitter feed, twitter.com/kyroadrally. Tweet with hashtag #kyr4.
1Lindberg, Laura Duberstein, PhD, and Isaac Maddow-Zimet. “Consequences of Sex Education on Teen and Young Adult Sexual Behaviors and Outcomes.” Journal of Adolescent Health. 51.4 (2012): 332–338. Print.
2“Family Planning.” World Health Organization Family Planning Fact Sheet 351. World Health Organization. Web. May 2013.
3“Pharmacy Refusals 101.” National Women’s Law Center Resources. Web. April 12, 2012.
4Jones RK and Kooistra K, Abortion incidence and access to services in the United States, 2008, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2011, 43(1):41–50.
Louisville Clinic Escorts 
Access to contraception, including emergency contraception, is so important. A lot of people think because something is legal everyone can access it and this simply is not true. People who don’t want to dispense legal and approved medications should not be working in a pharmacy. When I still lived in Kentucky, I once needed Plan B. I had already read up on Plan B from the actual website and product insert long before I needed it. The area I lived in was fairly small and due to the day and time there were not many places even open but knowing the sooner I took it the more effective it would be motivated me to try to find a pharmacy open. The first open place involved me first speaking to two different pharmacy techs who claimed they “couldn’t do that” so I would have to wait for the pharmacist. I stood there for 10 minutes as the line grew behind me only to be lectured about possible side-effects when I hadn’t requested counseling (which is normally offered as they hand you the drug and not mandatory) only to find out they were out of stock. As the clock in my head ticked away, I drove to the next closest open pharmacy over 30 minutes away. By the time I requested Plan B, showed my ID, filled out the log and actually got the medication another 30 minutes had passed. I took the first pill in my car in the parking lot and drove home crying from frustration at the obstacles to get a safe and legal medication. The last thing any state, but especially those with rural areas and small towns need is a legal right to decline to provide needed care and medications. Antis would likely not accept a doctor declining to provide a blood transfusion, antibiotics or psychiatric medications yet there are religions that forbid each of these. People can practice whatever religion they want but they shouldn’t be able to inflict negative consequences on others. As it turned out, I did not have a negative outcome other than being upset and it raised my awareness about how lacking reproductive health is in our country. However, how many women do have poor outcomes due to garbage like this? The answer should be none but I suspect it is not.
Pharmacists who deny birth control to people should be fined very heavily and lose their licenses. Denying women birth control pills is the same as denying a heart patient vital medication considering how many women use hormone pills for things other than controlling conception (like me).
I couldn’t give a toss about religious tolerance for pharmacists who pull this garbage. You’ve now stepped out of your life and have stepped on my life, and that’s where my tolerance of your religion ends.
Good luck with the rally!