A pharmacist has every right to his moral beliefs, and should NOT be required to fill prescriptions that violate his fundamental values. The patient has the choice of patronizing other pharmacies.
I have been an ER physician for over 20 years. I have refused to prescribe the "morning after pill", even in cases of rape. It is my fundamental belief that abortion is murder, and that the morning after pill is a form of abortion. I have never run into any problem with my policy, but I would never back down under any circumstances. In the event of any legal action I would certainly know what organizations to turn to for legal/financial assistance.
One thing the article doesn't state is what form of contraception is being sought, which makes me think perhaps it is the "Plan B" morning after pill or RU 486, not the pill most folks think of as apprpriate for contraception and other regulating effects. I am not for any of them, but given the recent up tick in stories about pharmacists refusing to fill contraception prescriptions, I think they must be sweetening the pot with some of these early abortion pills.
Doesn't matter to me if you're a MD, RN or POS.
The pharmacist has every right to his own moral beliefs. That's not in question here.
The question is whether the pharmacist has the moral right to refuse a legally-prescribed drug when not knowing the circumstances behind the prescription. Of course, he can speculate on those circumstances but that's another point.
My feeling is that if the pharmacist is having ethical and moral objections, it's him or her that should seek employment elsewhere.
Get ready to get flamed. There are several on this Forum that believe "If its legal, it must be "moral"; if its "moral," and you refuse to do it, you deserve to be fired, with no conscience clause to protect your God-given right not to be forced to participate in the destruction of innocent human life.
Good for you!! I wish more docs had your strong convictions.