Walgreens faces boycott after employee refused to sell Minnesota woman condoms

A Minnesota couple’s story is stirring a movement to boycott one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains.

Walgreens Company has been facing a groundswell of criticism in the battle over reproductive rights since the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade stoked heightened concern over access to contraception and certain medications.

The criticism took on a new tenor earlier this month when a Walgreens cashier in Hayward, Wisconsin refused to sell condoms to a shopper from Minneapolis based on religious grounds. 

Minneapolis resident Nate Pentz said he and his wife were headed to their cabin on Sunday, July 3 when they stopped at Walgreens to pick up a few things, including condoms.

Pentz said his wife, Jess, was at the cash register when a store employee, who appeared to be a man in his 50s, said he couldn’t sell her the condoms.

“We can, but I won’t because of my faith,” he recounted the cashier’s words on Twitter.

The employee offered to ring up everything except the condoms, but Jess declined, according to Pentz. To purchase the contraceptives, the employee said, Jess would need to be helped by a store manager.

"The manager came and rang up the rest of her order, including the condoms,” Pentz recounted, describing the experience as embarrassing. 

Walgreens did not respond to Bring Me The News’ requests for comment, but did tell NBC News that the employee’s actions did not violate store policy.

"Our policies are designed to ensure we meet the needs of our patients and customers while respecting the religious and moral beliefs of our team members," the spokesperson told NBC News. "The instances are rare, however when a team member has a moral or religious conviction about completing a transaction, they are required to refer the customer to another employee or manager on duty who will complete the transaction, which is what occurred in this instance."

The story told by Pentz went viral on Twitter and prompted a small protest outside the store in Hayward.

This week, #BoycottWalgreens trended on Twitter after Occupy Democrats, a left-wing media outlet, called on followers to ban the store.

Nate and Jess Pentz, who are both in their 30s, recently celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary. 

In discussing why they chose to share their experience publicly, Pentz said he worries about how a similar interaction might have influenced someone else’s reproductive choices, especially a young adult.

"Maybe they are not as assertive, or whatever the reason is, and that causes them not to purchase and be intimated and don’t try to later,” he said.

"There's a lot of reasons for protection,” he continued. "It's just kind of an appalling thing that someone would choose to stick their nose in someone else’s business in that way."