Thursday's editorial ("Plan B prescription policy for Target's pharmacists violates women's rights," Dec. 1) belies the scope of the problem of pharmacists who refuse to fill these valid prescriptions.

Stories have been appearing in the national news in the last five years with increasing frequency about pharmacists' refusal to fill prescriptions for both birth control and emergency contraception. I value pharmacists' expertise and extensive education; however, the moral case for refusing these prescriptions is weak. Hormonal contraception works by preventing ovulation: with no egg cell, the possibility of fertilization (and subsequent "abortion") is infinitesimal. A pharmacist should not deny a medication that poses no threat to the patient's well-being and frequently improves her quality of life. The 30 percent of women of childbearing age who use hormonal birth control have a host of legitimate reasons for making that choice, among them the number and timing of children, and treatment for debilitating reproductive disorders.

Further, 10 percent of women are brutalized by rapists (regardless of how they dress or behave) and don't want to bear their attacker's children. Many argue that a woman can go someplace else, but Wal-Mart, frequently the only pharmacy in smaller towns, refuses to stock Plan B as per corporate policy.

Fortunately Penn State students can get prescriptions written and filled at University Health Services. We need to remember, though, that many women have nowhere else to go.