Womens Rights Petition - Stop Blocking Native Womens Access to Emergency Contraception

In the United States, women over the age of 17 have the legal right to get emergency contraception, over the counter and without a prescription at their pharmacy. I also investigated the Canadian policy on EC, and was happy to find it is available once reaching child-bearing age. Although, it is kept behind the counter in Saskatchewan, and is available under prescription by your pharmacist in Quebec. But this is not the case on many Native Reservations. The Native American Womens Health Education Resource Center has reported that Native women, "are often told they have to see a doctor or have a prescription to get emergency contraception." The woman who orchestrated the below petition, lives on a reservation in South Dakota, and was told she by an Indian Health Service (IHS) worker, she would need to drive to a clinic over an hour away. However, she and many other people on the reserve do not have a car. Although, the above problem is an already an immense injustice, it is even more alarming that, "1 in 3 Native American women will be raped in their lifetime." Every single woman deserves the right to have access to these type of resources. It is extremely disheartening and horribly unjust so many do not. Although, this issue is so universal, the very least we can do is sign this womens petition address to prompt, Dr. Yvette Roubideax, the Director of IHS, to issue, "a directive to all service providers that emergency contraception be made available on demand -- without a prescription and without have to see a doctor -- to any woman age 17 or over who asks for it."To sign the petition on change.org click here.