A pharmacist at a Nampa, Idaho, Walgreens refused to dispense medication that stops uterine bleeding because she suspected the woman may have had an abortion. The pharmacist invoked the state’s new so-called conscience clause that allows pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives and abortifacient drugs, among other things, if they have a personal problem with it.
Last November, a woman took her prescription for Methergine, a drug that stops uterine bleeding regardless of cause, to Walgreens. The pharmacist, suspicious that the woman’s uncontrolled bleeding may have been the result of an abortion, called the nurse practitioner who wrote the prescription to inquire why the patient needed it. When the nurse refused to answer because to do so would violate the patient’s confidentiality, the pharmacist hung up on her and refused to fill the prescription.
Found by Cinàedh.
The simple fact is that the drug in question is neither a contraceptive, emergency or otherwise, nor an abortifacient. It DOES NOT prevent conception or end a pregnancy. It stops bleeding. If the law allows pharmacists to have the right to decide who bleeds excessively and who doesn’t, why not let them decide not to dispense antibiotics, since they MIGHT be prescribed in case of sexually transmitted disease? Perhaps when my doctor prescribes an antibiotic for the urinary tract infections that plague me due to my bladder cancer treatment she should be required to specify that my cancer treatment caused the infection. Then the pharmacist can decide if s/he wants to dispense it–after asking me if I ever smoked, of course, since smoking is the #1 cause of bladder cancer and if s/he has moral objections to smoking s/he should be allowed to decide not to dispense this medication.
This pharmacist’s argument is absurd and his license should be pulled at a minimum.