Contraceptive sales - Pharmacists’ attitudes add to problems

SHAMEFUL echoes of an uncaring Ireland are redolent in the disappointment voiced by Olive Braiden, chairperson of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA), who has revealed that some pharmacists refuse to sell contraceptives or the morning-after-pill because they disapprove of their use.

Smacking of Irish-style fundamentalism, the attitude of an unknown number of pharmacists, including some in Dublin, is a bleak reminder of an era when pregnant girls were shunned by society.

In this day and age, however, when condoms are widely available in pubs, clubs, family planning centres, supermarkets and even at the corner shop, it is incredible that professionals operating in the front line of public healthcare are refusing to provide customers with the most basic methods of preventing unwanted pregnancies.

Such an attitude flies in the face of the Government’s campaign to combat Ireland’s growing crisis of unplanned pregnancy. It also represents a blatant negation of the work of the State agency which warned on the publication of its annual report that sexually active young people have a strong tendency for risk-taking and poor levels of fertility knowledge.

These risk factors are contributing to the scale and seriousness of crisis pregnancy in Ireland today.

Ominously, the unsympathetic posture of some pharmacists recalls an era when social and moral behaviour was largely dictated by the Church, a time when such tragedies as the Kerry Babies case was hitting the headlines.

Most of those targeted by the CPA will be oblivious to the scandal in 1984 when a dead baby was found washed up at Caherciveen beach. Gardaí accused a young women, Joanna Hayes, who admitted burying her dead baby on the family farm, of also killing the child found on the strand.

In the same year, Ireland was rocked by the appalling tragedy of Ann Lovett, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who, along with her newborn baby, died in a grotto on a cold January day at Granard, Co Longford.

Twenty-one years later, sexual mores are changing dramatically in this country. Recent reports on contraception, unplanned pregnancy and attitudes to sex found that most young people between the ages of 18 and 25 are sexually active.

But the scenario now emerging is that girls as young as 14 or even 11 are engaging in sexual activity. This unprecedented trend has convinced Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney to suggest that contraceptives be supplied, with parental consent, to 11-year-old girls.

The urgent need to intensify the CPA’s publicity campaign is borne out by the finding that 14% of Irish men and 9% of women have never used contraceptives or sought advice.

Ms Braiden’s call for a survey to see if other pharmacists were adopting a similar policy in other parts of the country is eminently sensible. It would be particularly worrying if that was happening in towns where there was only one pharmacy.

The decision to launch a major campaign to challenge such disturbing behaviour will win widespread support.

By refusing to sell condoms or the morning-after-pill, some pharmacists are effectively denying members of the public access to basic healthcare.

The anti-social nature of such a stance is reflected in the fact that since the CPA was set up three years ago, there has been a 50% increase in crisis pregnancy counselling services around the country.

Given the crucial importance of achieving national consistency in the provision of public health care, Ms Harney should make it mandatory for all pharmacists to sell contraceptives.