Discipline of Pharmacists Spark Complaint

AP ^ | 12/7/5 | JIM SUHR

[SmithL]

Saint Louis -- Walgreen Co. engaged in religious discrimination by "effectively firing" three Illinois pharmacists who refused to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, a public-interest group alleged Wednesday.

The American Center for Law and Justice, founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, said it had filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The group said the pharmacists were put on unpaid leave Nov. 28 because the drug store chain said they violated a state rule mandating that such prescriptions be filled.

"Since the pharmacists believe that human life begins at conception, they conclude that dispensing such drugs would require them to participate in the moral equivalent of abortion," the Washington-based group said in a statement.

"I knew when these drugs came out I would never be able to dispense them," pharmacist John Menges, who worked in a Walgreens store in Collinsville until being placed on leave, told The Associated Press.

Frank Manion of the ACLJ declined to release a copy of the complaint, saying such matters routinely are confidential.

The local EEOC office did not immediately return messages left seeking comment.

The Illinois 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.

[thegreatbeast]

These magic pills should only be dispensed in a hospital emergency room. They aren't vitamins for Christ's sake!

[Logical me]

How come Illinois has the right to legislate a law requiring a business to sell any legal drug. Are we to assume that if a customer comes in to buy a drug that this druggist does not stock due to almost no sales for the drug, they by law he must now stock the item? This sounds like a violation of the right of a business to sell what it wants. This sounds wrong.

[GSlob]

Well, then they'll have to order it from the distributor [pretty much like the automotive parts being ordered by a garage when not on hand], and filling of the prescription would just take a bit longer, that's all.

[Tzimisce]

The government can NOT force its religion on us.

Even if that religion is Atheism.

[muir_redwoods]

If one doesn't like the rules of the Catholic Church, one should leave the church. If one doesn't like the rules of the Walgreen Company, one should leave the Walgreen Company. I applaud the conscience of these men but there is no moral position that requires Walgreen to change to suit them. They have the right to leave and work elsewhere.

That's called freedom and free choice.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Agreed. We have freedom of thought, but employers have their freedoms too. Should a logging company be required to hire pagans who refuse to cut down trees because they believe they're holy?

[Jacquerie]

The article reads that the Governor imposed the rule, which implies it could not pass the legislature. Thus, Walgreens was likely following an executive order.

I hope the state presses charges. Let's see how much public support the government gets.

[linda_22003]

They're not "magic" either. What a thing to say.