Retailer to Offer Birth Control
By:
Updated: April 17, 2007
John Simley, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, says adding birth control to the company`s insurance plan is "a standard enhancement to our basic healthcare program."
He went on to say offering birth control coverage is "not unusual in employee healthcare plans."
This comes after Wal-Mart decided to start carrying the Plan "B" emergency contraceptive pill in it`s pharmacies earlier this year.
Plus the company`s employee health care program has been a controversial and scrutinized subject in the past.
Now, the addition of birth control has upset some pro-life advocates.
"It`s all-around a poor option for a company to provide that for their employees. It`d be better if they simply raised the minimum wage for their employees and give them something they can really use," says Ann Scheidler, Executive Director of the Pro-Life Action League.
"It seems to me that deciding whether and when to have a child is a little bit more private decision that doesn`t need to be handled by insurance."
