Posted on 12/02/2005 8:56:52 AM PST by NYer
(AP) Walgreen Co., the nation's largest drugstore chain by revenue, said it has put four Illinois pharmacists in the St. Louis area on unpaid leave for refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception in violation of a state rule.
The four cited religious or moral objections to filling prescriptions for the morning-after pill and "have said they would like to maintain their right to refuse to dispense, and in Illinois that is not an option," Walgreen spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said.
A rule imposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in April requires Illinois pharmacies that sell contraceptives approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control. Pharmacies that do not fill prescriptions for any type of contraception are not required to follow the rule.
Ed Martin, an attorney for the pharmacists, on Tuesday called the discipline "pretty disturbing" and said they would consider legal action if Walgreen doesn't reconsider.
At least six other pharmacists have sued over the rule, claiming it forces them to violate their religious beliefs. Many of those lawsuits were filed by Americans United for Life, the Chicago public interest law firm with which Martin is affiliated.
The licenses of both a pharmacy and that store's chief pharmacist could be revoked if they don't comply with the Illinois rule, Bruce said.
Walgreen, based in Deerfield, Ill., put the four on leave Monday, Bruce said. She would not identify them. They will remain on unpaid leave "until they either decide to abide by Illinois law or relocate to another state" without such a rule or law.
For example, she said, the company would be willing to help them get licensed in Missouri and they could work for Walgreen there.
Walgreen policy says pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions to which they are morally opposed, except where state law prohibits, but they must take steps to have the prescription filled by another pharmacist or store, Bruce said.
Bruce said Wednesday the four pharmacists were the first Walgreen had disciplined under the state's rule. Walgreen has 488 stores in Illinois, out of about 5,000 nationwide, with generally three to five pharmacists employed at each one.
It was not clear whether other large pharmacy chains had taken similar action.
Jean Coutu Group Inc., which owns more than 1,900 Eckerd and Brooks stores, requires its pharmacists to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, spokeswoman Helene Bisson said. But she wouldn't say if Jean Coutu has taken action similar to Walgreen.
CVS Corp., the nation's largest retail pharmacy as measured by number of stores, did not immediately return calls.
Would you take the same position if that were you; I think you are in software or something? Sometimes even that line of work involves ethical dilemmas. I concede there are some grey areas in trying to resolve this matter to my personal satisfaction. What if someone like me comes to you as a deacon seeking advice on if I am over-reacting or if I am doing the right thing? I have not sought out advice of any clergy and will work it through for myself.
For the record, I knew that Walgreen's was dispensing this particular drug, and went along with it; when they started taking punitive action against the pharmacists, that crossed a line with me. Maybe I should have made a moral decision sooner because they are selling a drug I not only deem unsafe because of its high hormonal content, the FDA notwithstanding, and it happens to terminate a pregnancy at the earliest stage in life.
My understanding is that the drug acts in a twofold manner, prevents conception if taken early enough and causes a fertilized egg to fail to implant in the uterine wall if not taken soon enough. What is wrong with fixing the problem by trying to get an unjust law revoked so places like Walgreen's which I have not only had many, many prescriptions filled for about 40 years now as well as buying a lot of items in their store because I like them, they are close and convenient?
If they have to relocate or find other employment, so be it, but I still think it is unfair and shudder to think how it would be for me were I to find myself in their shoes right now.
In any case, I will live with the consequences of whatever I decide and take personal responsibility therefor.
"The problem is that some states and/or courts are now forcing companies to sell contraceptives, to include contraceptives in their health plans, etc."
Interesting that you should mention contraceptives. What if you went into Walgreen's with your prescription for birth control pills or even just to buy a pack of condoms, and the Roman Catholic pharmacists behind the counter wouldn't sell them? After all, Roman Catholics consider it sinful to use contraceptives. Is that OK, too? There's a line to be drawn here somewhere.
For me, the line is that I do not allow others to dictate such things to me, as a customer. If my doctor and I have decided that I need some medication, the religious beliefs of the pharmacist at my local Walgreens is irrelevant.
The pharmacist is not taking the medication. I am. It is my choice, in conference with my physician. Let the pharmacist avoid using whatever drugs he wishes. It is my prescription, not his.
Using the logic being presented here, there would be no problem with that Roman Catholic pharmacist refusing to fill any contraceptive prescriptions. He's not the one taking them.
Plenty of people work in the Illinois prison system.
Are all Illinois prison employees required by law to execute a criminal if someone asks them to do it?
Pharmacists are in high demand across the nation because of a shortage of them. They can easily find another job in hospitals instead of retail!
There's more to this than just abortion or religion. I used to run a big-box store for a drug chain. One day I was called back to the pharmacy because the pharmacist had refused to fill a script. When I asked the pharmacist why, he told me that the doctor who had written it was a quack, and that if he filled it, the complaining geezer would be dead in two weeks.
I told the old guy that he would have to get it filled elsewhere. He raised hell with me, but I still feel good about the pharmacist's and my actions.
I don't have a death on my conscience, because the corrupt ambulance chasers at my state capitol hadn't gotten around to passing a law like the morons in Illinois.
Actually, yes I would.
If they have to relocate or find other employment, so be it, but I still think it is unfair
Agreed. But despite the fairness (or lack of it more appropriately), anyone who steps outside the employer's rules (no matter the moral stance involved) needs to be prepared to either be disciplined or to lose their job.
I'm not saying that what the state has done is right or not (I call it unfair; the market should decide - the individual businesses need to be able to make those decisions for themselves, not the state), but given the current situation in Illinois, that is the reality, despite the FRmail I got (from someone who I will not name here) accusing me of not being a conservative.
That would result in USPS job openings.
I will not name here) accusing me of not being a conservative.
I'm quite used to that, may have been hit harder and uglier than you. It hurts, but I hope I have moved beyond that and will avoid the hot button issues that bring them down on me. It has seriously curtailed my participation in and support for this forum.
Indeed. I've gotten it for the better part of a year from various quarters. You weren't the one who FRmailed me on this topic, and I apologize if I implied it were you.
And you're right -- I'm looking at the hard (and difficult) reality of the situation. It ain't pretty, but it is the reality that we have to deal with.
And you're not the only one whose particpation has waned of late either...
Option 3,"Getting the law changed" sounds good, in the long run.
Otherwise laws could be passed that insist all obstetricians perform abortions when asked to do so.
That's alright, I'll shop there twice to make up for the loss.
"Did the Christians martyrs who died rather than follow the state's command to worship the Emperor go to hell?"
Of course not.
1. Even if their non-obeyance of the secular authorities would be a sin, as Christians they are justified to God through their faith in Christ and would go to Heaven, regardless of their Earthly sins.
2. That said, like Daniel before them (who did the same thing -- remember Nebechanezzer and the fire), the martyrs sufferred wordly punishment for their legally-wrongful actions.
3. BUT, more imporantly, in the instance at hand, the pharmacists here are not faced with the false dichotomy of either killing babies or disobeying the law.
They are free to avoid killing babies and still obey the law by quitting their jobs and/or leaving the state.
Because they are free to follow both the law of God and the law of man, that is what 1 Peter tells them to do.
Indded, to the extent we Christians can thread that needle, as Christian we must do so. That is the entire point of 1 Peter --- in the next verse, he tells slaves to be good slaves, even though slavery itself was a wrongful and horrid institution.
The problem is that, you, like me, are disgusted by this unfair situation --- much as the slaves of that day were disgusted by their situtation.
But, when confronted with a hard choice, the solution is ALWAYS to go back to the Word of God, and follow it, no matter how much we think we know better.
Here, there is a path that allows following the law of man and God, and that is the path that must be taken.
It seems there should be a "conscientious objector" status for pro-life pharmacists.
Just as pharmacists refusign to do their jobs woudl result in openings. But if done en masse, the disruption coudl be... entertaining.
It would be especially entertaining to see a class-action lawsuit brought against the masses of fired pharmacists.
In effect..
But.. can't the person with the prescription more easily go to another pharmacy?
Obviously what Walgreens is doing is not ideal -- after all, they shouldn't be selling abortion drugs in the first place. But on a scale of what you'd expect from corporate America, they're ok.
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