Excerpt from the full fact sheet:

In theory, the concept is simple: a woman walks into a pharmacy with a birth-control prescription from her doctor and should walk out with the medication – without intimidation, without delay, without a run-around.  But in reality, there is a growing movement of pharmacists refusing to fill women's legally prescribed birth-control prescriptions.  Some pharmacists even go so far as to lecture women, humiliate them in public, or refuse to hand back the prescription after they refuse to fill it. 

These pharmacists are emboldened because of laws referred to as refusal clauses (sometimes called "conscience" clauses), which permit a broad range of individuals and institutions—including hospitals, hospital employees, health-care providers, employers, and insurers—to refuse to provide, pay, counsel or even refer for medical treatment. 

Refusal clauses were first enacted immediately after Roe v. Wade in order to protect individuals and entities that receive certain federal funds from being required to provide abortion or sterilization if such services are contrary to their religious or moral beliefs. Following Congress' lead, 47 states and the District of Columbia passed laws that permit certain medical personnel, health facilities, and/or institutions to refuse to provide abortion care.

In the years following, lawmakers enacted refusal clauses only in isolated circumstances; however, recently there has been a resurgence of legislative activity related to refusal clauses. On the federal level, anti-choice members of Congress passed a sweeping law known as the Federal Refusal Clause, which permits health-care companies to refuse to comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations that pertain to abortion services, counseling, and referrals.  On the state level, in 2009, anti-choice legislators in several states introduced bills like these.  And, in December 2008, the Bush Department of Health and Human Services published a regulation that further expanded refusal rights; the regulation offers broad rights to employees who are only tangentially involved in providing the services at issue (for example, receptionists scheduling appointments), and it has the potential to grant entire health-care corporations the same "conscience" rights as those offered to individuals.  On March 10, 2009, the Obama administration proposed rescinding the regulation.  While the Obama administration reviews public comments to the proposed rescission, the Bush regulation currently is in effect.

Download the fact sheet (PDF)