ARTICLES
September 2002 ARTICLES
Contents © 2002
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
We Want To Make It Really Tough
SURVIVORS STAGE SIT-IN
Alarmed that emergency contraceptives are now readily available at pharmacies throughout California, the youth pro-life group, "Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust," staged a sit in protest on July 24 at the Rite Aid pharmacy at 3230 West Slauson Boulevard in Los Angeles. According to Survivors member Arianna Grumbine, the Survivors chose Rite Aid because the national pharmacy chain has been training its pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives in California. The Survivors are vowing to stage protests at Rite Aid pharmacies across California until they are given assurances from Rite Aid that it will not longer dispense emergency contraceptives.
At 12 noon on the day of the protest, the 50 young people arrived at the Rite Aid and marched into the store, chanting, "EC, it's a lie, you don't care if babies die." The group made its way to the back of the store where the pharmacy counter is located and sat down and started praying. The Survivors had alerted the Los Angeles police department of their protest prior to staging the sit in. During the protest, scores of Los Angeles police officers stood by. When asked what the officers were doing at the protest, one officer replied, "we're just here to ensure the peace and that everyone's rights are respected." After sitting on the floor in front of the pharmacy counter, the young people prayed and sang, asking God to change the minds of Rite Aid executives so that they would not continue to allow their pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives.
"The purpose was to tell Rite Aid what they were doing," said Grumbine, "to let them know what the community felt and to talk to the regional manager. We asked them to understand what is actually happening there. We want them to quit training their pharmacists in dispensing emergency contraceptives."
Survivors' spokesman Robert Montiel said that Rite Aid's regional manager had been contacted before and had been asked to stop selling emergency contraceptives. "He gave us a non-committal answer," said Montiel. "We were expecting him not to respond, so we decided not to let him go easily. We want to make it really tough. From our perspective, it was an awesome event."
Arianna Grumbine said that she is concerned about the effect emergency contraceptives have on young women such as herself. "As a 16-year-old high school student, I find it offensive that something many times more dangerous than birth control can be sold over the counter to me like aspirin. How would I or anyone my age be able to understand the possible consequences of this drug, especially if the pharmacist isn't telling me?"
During the protest, Rite Aid's regional manager stood by, flanked by police officers and visibly upset by the demonstration. When asked if he was going to have the young people arrested for trespassing, he said that he was going to ask them to leave, and if they refused, he would ask the police to arrest them. After he told Survivors' founder Jeff White that he wanted them to leave, White told the group of young people who were praying at the pharmacy counter, "we are going to leave now." The young people continued to pray for a short while asking God to turn the hearts of the Rite Aid executives. They left the store, chanting, "EC that's a lie, you don't care if babies die."
Once outside of the pharmacy, Grumbine assessed the situation: "we want to have their word that they won't be able to [dispense emergency contraception]. Because they were unable to do this, we have decided to hold this sit in to let them know that we find this unacceptable, that Rite Aid should not be doing this. They now know that we are going to be sending the video to Rite Aid's headquarters. We are going to let every Rite Aid, every pharmacy in this country, know that if they stand with CARAL [California Abortion Rights Action League] and they stand with people who stand with contraceptives and promote that lie, that they are going to be on our list and they are going to be picketed." The Survivors have vowed to continue the protest at other pharmacies throughout the state.
Rite Aid's regional manager refused to answer questions at the scene. He referred all questions to Rite Aid's national spokesman who did not return calls for comment.
For more information on the Survivors, see their website at www.survivors.la, or call (888) 813-9457.