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.
It's the state, not Walgreen's that you should be directing your anger to, people...
Walgreen's isn't to blame here as they are following the laws of the land.
Rod Blagojevich, however, who claims to be an Eastern Orthodox Christian, is to blame. I've got to find out what Archdiocese he claims to belong to and start pushing for a public excommunication!
> if everyone did this and half the nation's pharmacists quit their jobs that could cause some difficulties, to say the least.
Agreed. Because then the postal workers would refuse to drop mail off at the homes of pharmacists who quit their jobs and thus denied the postal worker's wife the pain meds she needs, and so on...
There sure as heck is!
If the pharmacists didn't like the rules, they shouldn't have worked there in the first place.
The rule was that they could be pharmacists and follow their conscience -- until Gov. Blagojevich declared it illegal.
By the logic used here, that catholic school that fired that out of wedlock, pregnant teacher (for breaking her contract) had no reason to do so either.
The logic is that the state shouldn't force private companies and organizations to do things against their religious beliefs.
The Devil's Deacon jumps in on the side of Death.
I'm shocked, shocked!
That's cool. And I can visit elsewhere. I love freedom.
If you find you can't (whether for religious or any other reason), there are plenty of people who WILL do the job, despite Vicente Fox's admonition otherwise.
If you can't/won't do the job, then you need to find another job or employer.
Period.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
I have to agree... and then we have the right of boycott.
That's the free market.
You support the governor forcing pharmacists to dispense abortion drugs?
Planned Parenthood is in a tizzy over this! So go to Target. No, they've banned bell ringers (or is it the word "Christmas"?).
What ever happened to the mom and pop drugstores???
> Walgreens has offered the pharmacists jobs in Missouri, which isn't completely obsessed with killing babies.
Sounds like they are hogtied by the law and are attempting to make things right.
I'll continue to shop there.. They're much better than Longs Drugs, which is a dump and has gotten my prescription wrong at least once.
I didn't know that IL was now a dictatorship.
I hope Dear Leader Blogojevich doesn't outlaw cheese or Episcopalianism tomorrow on a whim.
I support following the law and the dictates of your employer.
If an individual has such a strong ideology that would prohibit him from doing so (especially knowing the situation in advance), then that individual needs to find an employer who will be more in line with those ideologies.
"The logic is that the state shouldn't force private companies and organizations to do things against their religious beliefs."
I am personally dead against the morning-after pill.....however, these employees were being paid to do their job. They signed employment contracts with the company and the company has every right to fire them for breaking it.
BTW, I don't see how the state is forcing "private companies and organizations to do things against their religious beliefs" in this case.
The day is one day approaching when pharmacists may be asked to dispence suicide cocktails. Should the religious beliefs of the pharmacists also be ignored in this case, as the amoral morons demand?
Walgreen's is free to refuse to sell the drug. They chose not to.
The pharmacists are free to take their services elsewhere. There is a HUGE need for pharmacists, all over.
They should find a pharmacy whose inventory better reflects their religious views.
Indeed. There are those who will boycott those stores. I support that right (and to be more realistic, responsibility). But the pharmacists in question knew the situation prior to their actions. They have to deal with the repercussions of their actions. If it means they can't work for Walgreens' any more, then they need to find another employer.
He/she doesn't have to do it...but the store manager better find someone else who can. What if a Jehovah's Witness Pharmacist refused to sell anyone aspirin?
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