7 May 4 - May 10, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | Florida also provides some statutory pro- tections for healthcare workers who refuse to participate in abortions, including a clause shielding them from liability for their refusal. And as New Times has previously re- ported, two similar bills pending in the Flor- ida legislature would broaden those protections and go so far as to allow health- care providers (including pharmacists) and insurers the right to deny a broad range of medical services to patients on the basis of moral, religious, and ethical beliefs. If the legislation passes, providers could deny healthcare services to a patient be- cause of a “conscience-based objection” stemming from a “sincerely held” personal belief. Additionally, employers would be prohibited from punishing healthcare work- ers who cite such a “conscience-based objec- tion” in refusing to perform abortions and countless other medical services. The ACLU of Florida described the mea- sure as “shocking in its breadth, vagueness, and government overreach into the private sector and regulated businesses.” In the wake of last year’s Dobbs decision, Amy Thibault, director of external commu- nications for CVS — whose Twitter bio reads, “Bringing heart. Prioritizing health. Getting there together.” — confirmed to USA Today that company policy balances phar- macists’ rights with patients’ rights. “Under federal law, we must reasonably accommodate a religious conviction, and in certain states a moral or ethical conviction, that may prevent a pharmacist or pharmacy technician from dispensing specific medica- tions,” Thibault said in a statement. USA Today noted that “Thibault said an objecting pharmacist must request an ac- commodation from CVS ahead of time and make arrangements to ensure patient care, either from a different pharmacist or else- where. Most states require that care provid- ers who decline to provide services or prescriptions must find an alternate option for patients.” Under current Florida law, the patient whose misoprostol prescription was re- jected may file a complaint with the state’s Board of Pharmacy. “Everyone Needs to Know This” Several unstated truths lurk beneath the surface of the CVS pharmacist’s alleged misattribution. Though misoprostol has many other uses — including “priming” the cervix — doctors have known for years that administering it alone, or in combination with drugs other than mifepristone, is quite effective in in- ducing abortion. Earlier this year, Slate’s Christina Cauter- ucci spoke with Melissa Grant, chief opera- tions officer at Carafem, which operates clinics in Atlanta, Nashville, Washington, D.C., and Chicago and also offers abortion medication via mail order. “We now find ef- fectiveness rates with misoprostol by itself can be as high as 95 percent,” Grant said. “Mifepristone and misoprostol are about 98 percent. So we’re really talking about a small difference overall.” Gunter noted as much on her Substack blog, The Vagenda, last year. “Mifepristone and misoprostol together is ideal, and while I think everyone should have that option, it may not be possible for everyone to access. So it is important that people know how effective misoprostol alone is and where they can get it.” she wrote. “There is no way any doctor or nurse or police lab can determine if you have taken it as long as you take it under your tongue or place the tablets against your cheek,” added the OB/GYN. “Everyone needs to know this.” “Everyone needs to know this.” Gunter typed those words on May 5, 2022 — three days after the news site Politico leaked a draft of the U.S. Supreme Court’s looming decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Wom- en’s Health Organization, which signaled the end of the federal guarantee to abortion that had endured since the court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. Gunter’s post was headlined, “Stop Talk- ing About Coat Hangers and Start Talking About Misoprostol: Some thoughts on where we have been and where we go from here from an OB/GYN.” “The Prescription Has Been Filled” Dr. Gunter was reluctant to elaborate on her April 25 tweet beyond confirming its au- thenticity and her relationship to the pre- scribing physician. She did, however, share the location of the CVS pharmacy that re- jected the misoprostol prescription: 4890 Tamiami Trail East, just outside the Naples city limits. A pharmacist who answered the phone there appeared to be familiar with the mat- ter when asked about a recent prescription that had been refused. “The prescription has been filled,” she said before declining to pro- vide further information, referring the mat- ter to CVS Health’s corporate communications department. “This was an isolated incident that was addressed and corrected on Tuesday [the same day Dr. Gunter’s tweet was published],” the department’s executive director, Mike DeAngelis, responded in an emailed state- ment. “We understand that the recent court decisions did not impact access to misopros- tol and continue to dispense the medication as allowed by individual state law.” [email protected]
