Rally outside Ralph's

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Rally outside Ralph's

Submitted by jlw on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 7:30am.

Start: Aug 29 2007 - 4:30pm

End: Aug 29 2007 - 6:00pm

The owners of local grocery store/pharmacy Ralph's Thriftway have filed a lawsuit against the state of Washington's Board of Pharmacy and Human Rights Commission over codes that require pharmacies to fill prescriptions without discrimination. Despite their insistence that Ralph's is a community-minded, locally-oriented store, the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based law firm, is masterminding this lawsuit. Check out the ADF website to get a sense of this organization's political agenda; they're all about "family values," and the "sanctity of life," (although they don't seem to care much about the lives lost in war).

The Alliance Defense Fund claims in a press release that "a few activists" have boycotted and picketed Ralph's. That's funny -- a few hundred people pledged to boycott, and more than 200 picketers turned out during the first days of the boycott last July. Despite the claims of the ADF, the truth is a lot of people think that pharmacies should meet the needs of all their patients without moral judgment. If you feel the same way, please join us for a big rally at Ralph's on Wednesday, 8/29, between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Signs will be provided on site, but please feel free to bring your own. Word on the street is that a Seattle TV news crew is planning to film the event, and at least one local politician is planning to attend. Don't miss it!

Attachment	Size
PlanB rally flyer 8-07 V2.pdf	68.87 KB

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About the ADF

Submitted by Anonymously Larry on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 9:30am.

From their website:

Defend the free speech rights of advocates for life I don't see them defending freedom of speech for those that advocate choice.
Oppose efforts to legalize euthanasia Again, what happened to choice?
Oppose public funding of abortion Which of course just means that rich little girls can get private abortions
Support parental consent and informed consent laws Oh....NOW we talk about choice
Oppose partial-birth, and all other forms of, abortion I see, they opposed following the already legal premise of abortion. My suggestion, if you don't want an abortion, don't get one.
Oppose methods of "research" or "family planning" that require the taking of human life What research requires the "taking of human life"? Strawman issue
Defend pharmacists’, nurses’, and doctors’ right of conscience to not be forced to assist in the taking of innocent life Again, they want to prohibit the patient from executing choice, but support others making choices. And then there is the constant strawman "taking of an innocent life"

Yeah....someone please tell me how they can talk about this "taking of an innocent life" and not be opposed to war without their overused justifier running full speed.

Interesting how Stormans had to go out of state to find someone to take up their cause. I'm trying to stay neutral, but it's getting increasingly difficult.

Meanwhile, I'm told that some of the protestors that are violating the sidewalk ordinance downtown, while picketing Planned Parenthood, are hired guns brought in to specifically agitate because they don't live here and don't care about divisiveness in the community.

"There is only one race, the human race" - The Neville Brothers

They can't seem to leave well enough alone.

Submitted by oldtimeydave on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 11:45am.

For the good or bad you can say one thing for Storman's... They do seem to put their beliefs above community acceptance and their wallets. However when all is said and done it is their employees that will undoubtedly suffer first, and that is something I don't support either. It is one thing to sacrifice from your own personal lives for you beliefs it is an entirely another thing to shirk the responsibility to your employees and put their livelihood in jeopardy. Nice folks.

If Storman's is so against new state pharmacy policies and aren't in it to help people maybe it is time to close the pharmacy down, quit selling drugs and stop profiting off of community sickness.

Now if they would only let sleeping dogs lie, shut up and/or re-align their beliefs to mine ;) I could feel good about shopping there again.

quote: Now if they would

Submitted by Norm on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 12:59pm.

quote: Now if they would only let sleeping dogs lie, shut up and/or re-align their beliefs to mine ;) I could feel good about shopping there again.

That is seeing it for what it is. This seems to be one of those things where there isn't a whole lot of gray area to compromise with.

Just fill it

Submitted by Scott Haley on Sun, 08/26/2007 - 6:12am.

Funny strip but directed at

Submitted by Norm on Sun, 08/26/2007 - 7:02pm.

Funny strip but directed at the wrong guy. There just happens to be very few on the blog that agree with Storman's at this point. I like folks here to know that just because they think it's right, doesn't mean everyone agrees with them. I'm sure you can understand given your position, if not then maybe we need to look for a replacement.

??Am I missing something??

Submitted by Rob Richards on Sun, 08/26/2007 - 7:10pm.

"I'm sure you can understand given your position, if not then maybe we need to look for a replacement."

replacement for what? what position?

No, you aren't missing

Submitted by Norm on Sun, 08/26/2007 - 8:20pm.

No, you aren't missing anything, I'm having (for lack of a better term) a blonde moment...or day. I truly thought he was someone else. I need some sleep or something.

I can't go in and edit it so for now it stays to remind me to double check what the heck I decide to post.

One of the things I don't understand

Submitted by Anonymously Larry on Sun, 08/26/2007 - 7:30pm.

If ANY pharmacy (I won't pick on Stormans) had a philosophical problem with a particular drug, I'd like to think it would be painkillers, which about probably the MOST ABUSED pharm in their inventory. Concerned about human life? Don't carry opiates, which ruin lives and have for over a century.

Obviously, the complaint by the folks that are demonstrating at Stormans is what appears to be a rather selective viewpoint on "concern about human life".

"There is only one race, the human race" - The Neville Brothers

It does seem rather inconsistent, doesn't it?

Submitted by jlw on Sun, 08/26/2007 - 9:53pm.

Ralph's sells cigarettes. Ralph's sells Viagra. Ralph's sells alcohol. Ralph's sells birth control pills that contain exactly the same chemical as Plan B, just in daily doses. Ralph's sells condoms. Ralph's sells painkillers and sleeping pills and lottery tickets and frozen french fries and brisket with huge slabs of fat on it and mass market paperbacks and corny greeting cards and fruit picked by undocumented workers and imported gifts and kitchen gadgets made with child labor and all kinds of things that might be considered unhealthy or immoral or tawdry and it doesn't seem to bother anyone a bit. But when it comes to a pill that could help a woman who has just had intercourse avoid an unplanned pregnancy, suddenly it becomes a "moral issue." Could it be that they actually care more about controlling women's sexual behavior than preserving life?

No.

Submitted by Rob Richards on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 12:11am.

"Could it be that they actually care more about controlling women's sexual behavior than preserving life?"

I don't think that enters into the equation at all on a base level. In a way, in the same way that even liberal policies negatively affect the poor, yes, but if you ask Kevin Stormans he's sure to say that controlling women is not the agenda, and I believe he means it. This is a hot button issue for the religious right and Stormans is playing to it.

That said, I don't care, I won't shop at Ralph's until they close their pharmacy or start selling Plan B because I believe that access to medicine is a basic human right. All of the other products mentioned (cigarettes, beer, porn, etc) are apples to oranges when compared to Plan B.

One big issue for me is that a lot of people who are anti contraception are also pro death penalty, a bit of a double standard. Also, being pro-life, to me, should mean taking into consideration the quality of that life. Sure, a woman could have the child and give it up for adoption or put him/her in the foster care system, but ask any Community Youth Services worker about the lives of kids in the foster care system and you get a pretty bleak story. They typically age out, then go to CYS, then move on to B&R. There is no system of real support for foster kids in early development, and a number of them end up on the streets where there is also no real support systems. Right now in this area we are turning away a record number of families because there is no shelter space for them. That means children are out in the elements and are being shown that society is unwilling to help them. What a terrible lesson to learn early in your life.

They must find it difficult...
Those who have taken authority as truth,
rather than truth as the authority."
- Gerald Massey

I have to disagree, Rob

Submitted by jlw on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 12:53am.

A few decades ago, the anti-choice movement, in opposing both birth control and abortion, openly attacked the use of such things as "immoral." The anti-abortion, anti-birth control movement latched on to the "life" argument pretty recently, and stuck with it, almost certainly because it's been very effective. It's hard to argue with people who claim to be "pro-life." Who wants to be against "life"? You're right in discerning that these people are not really that supportive of life in all instances -- they don't tend to be against the death penalty, and they're not often opposed to war, either.

Come stand on the picket line with us some time, and after you've heard a few anti-choicers give us the finger and snarl "It wouldn't be an issue if you'd just keep your legs closed," you might feel differently about whether this is a control issue regarding women's sexual behavior or not. I've been to enough protests and demonstrations where the anti-choice people talk calmly about life, until they get angry and start screaming "Why don't you just stop having sex?!" to be convinced that the core issue is discomfort with female sexuality. You may also notice that the most rabid anti-choicers also tend to be very opposed to gay rights -- again, an issue of controlling other people's sexual behavior. If what they really cared about was life, why aren't they standing at anti-war vigils with signs that say "No war"?

I've been on the pickets (my

Submitted by Rob Richards on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 10:32pm.

I've been on the pickets (my sign said: "Keep your god out of my vagina") at Ralph's and I have seen the behavior you describe.

The only test would be if there were a male pill that rendered sperm useless, would they attack that as vehemently? Probably not, but for scientific reasons. What are their views on a man getting a vasectomy, or a woman having their "tubes tied"?

The fact that they say the things they do adds to my belief that this is about their twisted christian values. Again, I believe the effect of what they're doing is suppressive to women, but it's not their base motivation. To me it's like a liberal who supports NAFTA, they aren't classist, they just don't "get" how those kinds of policies affect the poor, and that there are seriously classist results.

I'm not saying you're wrong, in fact I agree with what you're saying, just on a different level.

We had a great turnout, despite the heat!

Submitted by jlw on Wed, 08/29/2007 - 10:41pm.

Not only did over 60 people show up to picket Ralph's, 10 women went into Ralph's, asked for Plan B, were refused, and filed complaints with the Department of Health right there and then. There are some photos up on my flickr site, as well as the flickr sites of a couple of my contacts. A third contact who is also an Olyblogger, who shall remain nameless, was there and took some great photos, but he hasn't posted them yet. Here is my favorite photo of the day. Yes, they are ALL pregnant.

Oh, there was heat...

Submitted by Debmonstrative on Wed, 08/29/2007 - 11:50pm.

...that's why I was so hot, I guess. It was hot inside Ralph's too, with all those complaints. Janet, you do great work and congrats on the excellent turnout. Also, I would like to say I really like your very long sentence from 8/26/07 at 10:53 p.m.

I observed the rally

Submitted by Anonymously Larry on Thu, 08/30/2007 - 12:04am.

I had been at the Elks Lodge getting things arranged for a celebration for the kids that did the mural. Rather than come into the middle of the rally, I observed from about a half block away, so that I could remain unbias and strictly report what I saw.

There were a few counter protests in support of Stormans. I was (probably wasn't really) surprised that they were middle aged males. Both sides were civil to each other. A few comments exchanged, but nothing seemed out of control.

I had some dialog with a young couple that approached me on the corner. They were supportive of the Plan B proponents, yet tried to give Stormans the benefit of the doubt on the issue of choice. They hit the proverbial nail on the head on the two key issues - 1. Plan B has nothing to do with abortion, and 2. the issue becomes even more accute if a lone pharmacy in a smaller town refused to serve women with this legal drug.

My personal observation is that I was proud of my community to have both sides telling their position and nothing got out of control. True freedom of speech was exercised.

I know part of the Stormans family, through civic work, and I wish there was a way I could reason with them on the misinformation they have accepted on Plan B. Unfortunately, emotions run deeper than logic when religion is present.

I sincerely hope that the State enforces all regulations.

"There is only one race, the human race" - The Neville Brothers

The flickr photos were great!

Submitted by Norm on Thu, 08/30/2007 - 8:31am.

I couldn't post in that thread though for some reason. You caught my friends attention, she mentioned seeing everyone outside of Ralph's as we drove to see "Superbad". I was all like, "I know the girl that organizes those." and she was all like, "No way!"

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