In Milledgeville, Georgia, Brittany Cartrett recently was informed by her doctor of something no expecting mother wanted to hear: she had miscarried early in her pregnancy, about four or five weeks in. Her doctor called a Walmart in Milledgeville asking that it provide Cartrett with a medication that would help her pass naturally.

The problem is, the Walmart refused to offer the prescription. “So we found another place to fill it but I still had to go up there to get another prescription so when I went up there she asked if I had any questions about this prescription. I said no, I don't, but I do have a question about the other one. And she looks at my name and she says, oh, well...I couldn't think of a valid reason why you would need this prescription,” said Cartrett.

The drug is Misoprostol, which can be used to induce an abortion (though it was not being used for that in this case).

“It's very frustrating, because who is the pharmacist to make that decision. I understand that they go to school for a very long time for that job. They do a residency just like a doctor does, but I'm not going to see that pharmacist, I'm going to see a doctor and if it's because of that due to the conscience clause I think it's called, then what other decisions are they making based on our health and our needs by not giving a prescription to someone who may or may not need it,” said Cartrett.

Georgia law has for the past 15 years allowed pharmacists to refuse to prescribe certain drugs if they feel it violates their personal beliefs.

Local news station WXGA contacted Walmart corporate offices and were told the following: “Our pharmacists fill prescriptions on a case by case basis every day in our stores throughout the country and we encourage them to exercise their professional judgment in doing so.” 

Watch WXGA's report: