United States: Pharmacists refuse to sell contraceptives
More and more American pharmacists are refusing to supply contraceptives to patients, in particular, the abortifacient known as the “morning after pill” because they consider it goes against their religious and moral convictions.
Some states have already legislated to this effect, allowing pharmacists the right to refuse to sell contraceptives, even with a medical prescription. In Arizona, the Chamber of Representatives recently passed a law which took into account a conscience clause for pharmacists in the sale of contraceptive methods. On the other hand, in Illinois, Governor Blogojevich has prescribed an order forcing pharmacists in his State to comply with all medical prescriptions immediately and without question.
The debate is dividing the profession. The pharmacist Pitt Philips, of North Carolina, defends the decision of pharmacists to refuse to supply the morning after pill in the name of the rights of the individual: “Since people have the right to obtain their prescription elsewhere, as an individual, I always have my own right to refuse it. Otherwise, I would be causing a chemical abortion and, as a Christian, I must not do something which destroys life.” The Christian Legal Centre for Law and Religious Freedom considers that employees in the health sector should not be forced to do anything at all which violates their conscience.
The debate between the partisans of the rights to contraception and those of the rights of the pharmacist to decide which prescription he must refuse, will intensify shortly if as is quite possible the Food and Drug Administration, the highest authority in matters concerning approval of medicines, authorizes the sale of the morning after pill without a medical prescription.
