Walgreens worker wouldn’t sell condoms in WI store. Now man vows to get vasectomy
After an employee at Walgreens in Wisconsin refused to sell condoms to a married couple, the husband now says he’s taking a more drastic step toward birth control: a vasectomy.
Nate Pentz tweeted about an unusual exchange at a Walgreens pharmacy in the town of Hayward. In early July, Pentz said he and his wife went to purchase condoms at the store, but when they tried to check out, the cashier said he would not sell the condoms “because of my faith,” the tweet read.
Outraged, Pentz shared the story online, which has been retweeted over 11,000 times as of July 21.
In addition to refusing to give the couple service, the cashier “embarrassed” Pentz’ wife over her “reproductive choices,” they wrote in a complaint submitted to Walgreens.
The incident comes shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court decision to end Roe V. Wade, allowing many states to implement laws effectively banning abortion — which many Americans see as stunning blow to women’s reproductive rights, and a threat to bodily autonomy.
“After the incident at Walgreens, I made an appointment for a vasectomy,” Pentz said in a July 21 tweet.
A vasectomy is considered a “low risk” procedure, according to the Mayo Clinic, in which the flow of sperm is cut off from the semen by “cutting and sealing the tubes that carry sperm.”
Despite online outcry, and calls from some to boycott Walgreens, there may be little the company will do in response, given established policy, which allows for employees to refuse to help customers for religious reasons.
In a 2018 tweet which recently resurfaced, Walgreens states that it “allows pharmacists to step away from filling a prescription for which they have a moral objection. At the same time, they are also required to refer the prescription to another pharmacist or manager on duty to meet the patient’s needs in a timely manner,” McClatchy News reported.
That policy is still in place, a spokesperson confirmed to McClatchy News.
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Walgreens worker wouldn’t sell condoms in WI store. Now man vows to get vasectomy."