By Misti Crane, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 Since 2006, emergency contraception -- sold under the name Plan B and often called the morning-after pill -- has been available at pharmacies without a prescription.

But reproductive-rights activists have worried about accessibility in light of stories about pharmacists who've refused to dispense the drug.

A new survey by NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio found no evidence of outright refusals but showed that it's not as widely available as the group would like and that women don't always get accurate information about the drug.

Plan B is two hormone pills (essentially high-test birth-control pills) that prevent pregnancy and are considered most effective when taken soon after unprotected sex -- ideally, within 72 hours. It is kept behind the pharmacy counter but does not require a prescription for women 18 and older.

Plan B is not the abortion pill, RU-486.

NARAL's survey had two parts. In the first, 216 randomly selected pharmacies were contacted to inquire about Plan B availability. In the second, "secret shoppers" visited 107 randomly selected pharmacies looking for Plan B and information about it.

The project was prompted in part by the story of Tashina Byrd, a Springfield woman who was denied Plan B by a pharmacist who told T he Dispatch in early 2007 that he morally opposed it.

"We really weren't sure what the scope of the problem was," said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, which favors abortion rights.

The women who posed as customers, both on the phone and in person, discovered that about one-third of pharmacies either didn't stock Plan B or were out at the time, said Jaime Miracle, outreach and field director for the group. In general, large chain stores were more likely to have it.

Although there were no blatant refusals, Miracle said there's no certainty that some pharmacists weren't being dishonest about the availability of Plan B in the pharmacy.

She said that 25 percent of pharmacy employees incorrectly said Plan B was the same as the abortion pill.

"I think what really, unfortunately, shocked me was the misinformation given out by the pharmacists."

Pharmacies can't stock every drug, and tend to stock drugs they know they can sell, which might explain why some did not have Plan B on their shelves, said Kelly Vyzral, director of government affairs for the Ohio Pharmacists Association.

The important thing is that pharmacists direct customers to another pharmacy when they can't supply a particular product, she said.

Miracle and Copeland said the survey highlights the importance of better educating pharmacy employees.

They'd also like to see more pharmacies stock Plan B. It's not such a big deal in a pharmacy-dense county like Franklin, but it could create serious barriers in more rural communities, they said.

Consumers can help by encouraging their pharmacies to stock Plan B, and women might choose to proactively buy the drug so that if they need it they don't have to go looking for it, Miracle said.