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.
Exactly.
Start your own pharmacy.
The government need not be involved either way. The market will resolve.
I couldn't have said it any better, no one could.
Pharmacists, like doctors and all other human beings, have an obligation not to injure or kill people.
It is not a pharmacist's professional obligation as a pharmacist to dispense abortifacients.
How about supporting laws that allow pharmacists freedom of conscience?
Do you support requiring all prospective doctors to perform abortion, just in case they 'need to' in the future? Would your message be, "pro-lifers should get out of the medical profession!" Did you forget about standing up for what's right?
If an individual has such a strong ideology that would prohibit him from doing so (especially knowing the situation in advance),
Knowing what situation in advance? That the governor might come along some day and declare an "emergency rule" requiring all pharmacists to dispense abortion drugs?
And you support that, and think everyone should go along or go quietly, move their family to another state and not make a fuss?
You got that right
And with the pharmacist shortage, if enough did that, it would make impact
The fact that an unborn child is a human being is not a religious matter, but a fact of biology.
A private company has no right to enjoin its employees to commit murder. That is not a just condition of unemployment.
Allowing pharmacies to make their own decisions about freedom of conscience is not "imposing" anything.
Walgreens allowed that freedom in Illinois until it was declared illegal by the governor, and allows it in other states.
"I have to agree... and then we have the right of boycott. That's the free market."
I agree. I'd be boycotting already, if I didn't already use a locally-owned pharmacy!
While the pharmacists are free to bring suit against Walgreen's enjoining the above point, the pharmacists will remain unemployed because they have violated a condition of employment.
It would be preferable for their own benefit if they sought employment in another state.
Is it not a pharmacists job to fill and dispense prescriptions given to their customers by their doctors?
If a pharmacists employer allows them to refuse to fill certain prescriptions because it violates their religious beliefs, that is fine. No problem. But if the pharmacists employer does not allow this, then the pharmacist has two choices. Fill the prescriptions or quit.
And in this case as it has been noted several times, it is not Walgreens that makes them fill the prescriptions, it is state law. So the pharmacists have 3 options. Fill the prescriptions, quit, or get the law changed.
Walgreen's no longer has a choice, and is willing to accommodate these pharmacists in one of those other states.
They should take the offer.
"And with the pharmacist shortage, if enough did that, it would make impact."
Correct. I always cringe at all the "we need a law" conservatives. They're as bad as liberals.
Just quit the awful pharmacy. Vote with your feet.
Customers, vote with your dollars.
As a practical matter, sure.
As a matter of principle IL's governor, in a unprincipled fashion reminiscent of a dictator, has imposed a rule upon a private business and the private business is caving in to the despotism rather than defending its employees basic rights.
"....some perpetually-offended FReepers use double standards....'
Spot-on, thanks
"A private company has no right to enjoin its employees to commit murder. That is not a just condition of unemployment."
Unfortunately, the law does not agree with us on that issue.
The solution is to find a job elsewhere, which is quite easy for pharmacists these days.
This problem was caused by the liberal governor declaring an "emergency rule" outlawing Walgreens' previous practice.
Why don't you support the right of private companies to make their own policies on the matter?
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