Stuart E. Anderson of Great Falls, Montana: Asshole

On Mother's Day, this ad appeared in the Great Falls Tribune.

The ad reads:

The sanctity of human life has always been one of our most cherished heritages. The family unit is the foundation of our society. The devotion and sacrifice of mothers over the years and the continual care and concern for their unborn has been the cornerstone of the family. On this Mother’s Day 2007, we wish to express our gratitude to all mothers for their unselfishness in our behalf. As health-care professionals, we call upon the American people to once again reaffirm the right to life for future generations of the unborn and join with us in our efforts to restore respect, dignity and value to each human life—born or unborn.

You'll be unsurprised to find out that a week and a half later, when a woman went in to Snyder Drugs, which is owned by the Anderson family (one of the signatories to the ad), she was handed this note instead of her prescription; it reads

Snyder Drug has decided to no longer carry oral contraceptives. Although we no longer will carry this particular medication, we will continue to serve your prescription needs with utmost care and trust. We will be happy to transfer your oral contraceptive prescription to another pharmacy of your choice in a timely manner. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please direct them to the pharmacy owners, Stuart Anderson or Kurt and Kori Depner. By the end of May, we will no longer stock this class of medication. Sincerely, Stuart E. Anderson, R.Ph/owner.

Interestingly, the story doesn't appear to have been covered in the Great Falls Tribune, the paper that carried the ad; the only place I've found mention of it is on the Montana Netroots blog. Sadly, the author of the Montana Netroots post gets distracted by the issue of property rights and whether business owners have the right to run their businesses "as they see fit."

The real issue here is that Stuart E. Anderson, R.Ph, is a registered pharmacist and Snyder Drugs is a pharmacy. Which is to say, Mr. Anderson and his business are licensed by the state to dispense prescribed medications.

Which they are refusing to do.

Now, why are they refusing to dispense medications that are prescribed only to women? It isn't because oral contraceptives cause abortion--they don't. It isn't because they can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg, either, because while that may be theoretically possible, there's no evidence that oral contraceptives actually work that way--as a registered pharmacist surely knows.

I can only assume, then, that it's because Stuart E. Anderson and the co-owners of Snyder Drugs, Kurt and Kori Depner, are sexist jackasses who think that their license to dispense drugs is less important than their god-given right to pass judgment on women.

I hope that the State of Montana respects their choice by taking away Mr. Anderson's pharmacist's license and his and the Depner's right to own a pharmacy.

This post will be cross-posted over at SG this afternoon.