WADE A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO.
SOME WOMEN NEED -- OR INDUCING
LABOR.
THEY ARE STRUGGLING TO GET
THEIR HANDS ON THEM, BUT THEY
CAN ALSO BE USED IN MEDICAL
ABORTIONS.
HERE IS ERICA EDWARDS.
>> Reporter: CHILDREN PART OF
THEIR PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING.
>> WE ALWAYS KNEW THAT WE WOULD
HAVE A FAMILY.
>> BUT IT HASN’T BEEN EASY.
>> WE WERE HOPING TO SEE A
HEARTBEAT AND ON ULTRASOUND, WE
SAW THAT I HAD A NONVIABLE
PREGNANCY.
>> Reporter: HER DOCTORS -- A
DRUG THAT CAUSES THE UTERUS TO
-- HELPFUL DURING A MISCARRIAGE,
THE LOSS OF A PREGNANCY AND CAN
TAKE WEEKS FOR THE BODY --
>> EVERYBODY PROCESSES GRIEF
DIFFERENTLY, BUT FOR ME, I LIKE
TO HAVE A PLAN.
CHOOSING THE MEDICATION, A TIME WHEN THIS HAPPENS.
>> THIS ALSO -- DURING A
MEDICATION ABORTION.
A DELIBERATE TERMINATION OF A
PREGNANCY.
THAT IS WHY KRISTIN BELIEVES
THE WALGREENS PHARMACIST
REFUSED TO GIVE HER THE DRUG.
>> I WAS IN SHOCK, I WAS
CONFUSED.
I WAS DEALING WITH THIS
MISCARRIAGE.
THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY DIDN’T
FEEL COMFORTABLE GIVING ME THE
POSITION -- AT THAT POSITION.
>> IDAHO’S DEFENSE OF LIFE ACT
WENT INTO EFFECT IN 2022 AFTER
THEY OVERTURNED ROE V. WADE.
THE STATE LAW SAYS THAT EVERY
-- OR PRETENSE TO PERFORM AN
ABORTION COULD BE COMMITTING A
FELONY, PUNISHABLE BY YEARS OF
IMPRISONMENT UP TO FIVE YEARS.
>> WHETHER THEY ARE COMMITTING
A FELONY OR FOR DISPENSING THE
MEDICATION.
>> Reporter: THE THREAT OF JAIL
TIME IS A REAL WORRY FOR
PHARMACISTS LIKE MATT HERE.
>> WHEN YOU SEE THIS, YOU NOW
ARE, A LITTLE ALERT GOES IN THE
BACK OF YOUR HEAD THAT SAYS WELL, MAYBE WE NEED TO MAKE
SURE HERE.
>> Reporter: IS IT FRUSTRATING
TO YOU?
>> IT’S FRUSTRATING AND IT
TAKES TIME FROM OTHER THINGS
THAT WE NEED TO DO, BUT
ULTIMATELY, THE FEAR IS THAT
PEOPLE AREN’T GETTING THE
MEDICAL CARE THAT THEY ARE
NEEDING.
>> PHARMACIST ARE
UNDERSTANDABLY SCARED BY THESE
INCREDIBLY STRICT ABORTION LAWS
THAT HAVE BEEN ENACTED AND THEY
ARE AFRAID THAT THEY MAY BE
CHARGED WITH A FELONY, SIMPLY
FOR DOING THEIR JOB.
>> Reporter: ELLISON TANNER,
SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL AT THE
NATIONAL WOMAN’S LAW CENTER,
SAYS THE DECISION -- WHO SAID
THEY WERE DENIED ACCESS FOR
RECENTLY PROVIDED MEDICATION,
INCLUDING MR. PRO STILL -- MR.
PRO STILL.
>> THEY’VE INVESTIGATING
COMPLAINTS AGAINST SOME
PHARMACIES, INCLUDING WALGREENS.
HAVE BEEN RESOLVED.
IN A STATEMENT, WALGREENS SAYS
IT WOULD TERMINATE TEAM MEMBERS
WHO -- CERTAIN PRODUCTS. ANOTHER PHARMACIST CAN FILL THE
POSITION.
>> Reporter: KRISTIN’S DOCTOR
WAS ABLE TO TRANSFER THE
PRESCRIPTION TO ANOTHER ONE.
>> I HAVE OTHER OPTIONS AND
ACCESS TO OTHER PHARMACIES AND
THAT MAY NOT BE THE CASE FOR A
LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WENT
THROUGH WHAT WE WENT THROUGH
ACROSS THE STATE.
>> ERICA EDWARDS IS JOINING US NOW.
ERIKA, YOU LAID OUT WHAT
HAPPENED IN IDAHO AND THE
POLICY THERE, BUT WHAT ABOUT
OTHER STATES.
WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
>> HEY, HALLIE.
THIS IS HAPPENING NATIONWIDE.
WOMEN ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE
TELLING US THAT THEY HAVE BEEN
DENIED THIS PRESCRIPTION.
NOW THEY HAVE SOME GUIDANCE TO
PHARMACIES, BASICALLY SAYING
THAT REFUSING TO PRESCRIBE
CERTAIN MEDICATIONS, -- CIVIL-
RIGHTS LAWS.
BUT IT’S NOT SO CLEAR TO
PHARMACIST THAT WE’VE TALKED TO
IN THAT PIECE, YOU KNOW,, IT’S
ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT FOR
INDEPENDENT PHARMACIES WHO
DON’T HAVE THESE RULES TO GUIDE THIS PROCESS, WHERE THE
PHARMACISTS WHO -- AND NOT GET