Mother is denied pill by Muslim pharmacist

Telegraph.co.uk ^ | 03 Oct 2008 | Paul Stokes

[forkinsocket]

A woman was refused the "morning-after pill" by a supermarket's duty pharmacist because it was against his religious beliefs.

Ruth Johnson, 33, who has two children, including a month-old baby, had not been using her usual method of contraception with her fiancée.

She went to the Tesco dispensary in Hewitts Circus, Cleethorpes, Lincs, and asked an as assistant for the pill Levanelle.

Miss Johnson was told it could only be dispensed by the locum pharmacist who was called to speak with her.

She said: "He came out from behind a screen and told me that he would not be allowing me to buy the pill from him because he had a right to refuse to sell it on the basis of his personal beliefs.

"The pharmacist was of Asian origin so I asked him if it was because of his religion and he replied 'Yes'."

Miss Johnson, from Cleethorpes, was left feeling ashamed and worried and complained to the store manager who told her they couldn't force the pharmacist to sell the product.

She said: "I asked him if a Jewish or Muslim checkout operator could refuse to sell pork or alcohol or if a Jehovah's Witness could refuse to sell birthday and Christmas cards."

Her concern is that the policy could deter teenage girls from seeking the morning-after pill.

[yongin]

This is a treat. When a pro-life Catholic stands up for his/her beliefs, they are declared hateful. When a Muslim stands up for his/her beliefs, the govt must accomodate Muslim beliefs for the sake of diversity. Perhaps the key for social conservatives to ban gay marriage and abortion in America would be help convert liberals to Islam. :)

[ari-freedom]

tough
deal with it

[BykrBayb]

Not the same. In order to be the same, the product being sold must cause death. If the burger flipper refused to sell me a deadly burger, I wouldn’t complain.

[jude24]

In order to be the same, the product being sold must cause death. If the burger flipper refused to sell me a deadly burger, I wouldn’t complain.

Last time I checked, birth control pills don't kill anyone. And that's all the morning-after pill is.

[BykrBayb]

Check again.

[ari-freedom]

I can easily refute the idea that a human life is more important than a dog. Even yours. But this is not a debating forum for radical leftist ideas.

[jude24]

The morning after pill prevents fertilization and implantation.

It doesn't kill the patient.

[ExpatGator]

Do you deny this private business the right to sell a legal product?

[MrEdd]

Gov’t needs to stay out of the religion business, and so do the agents they license.

Ah so your whole position here is not that licensure is wrong, but that it should exist and be used to keep those religious people from engaging in certain professions?

Because those religious people oppress you when they refuse to do things you want them to?

Are you sure you are on the right forums? That is a major tenant of marxism, not conservatism.

[cacoethes_resipisco]

Emergency contraceptive tablet. Each Plan B® tablet contains 0.75 mg of a single active steroid ingredient, levonorgestrel [18,19-Dinorpregn-4-en-20-yn-3-one-13-ethyl-17-hydroxy-, (17α)- (-)-], a totally synthetic progestogen. http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/levonorgestrel_cp.htm Levonorgestrel: A progestin. Named levonorgestrel because it is the levorotatory form of norgestrel. Used in combination with an estrogen as an oral contraceptive. http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=30735 It is identical to oral contraceptives. Believing it should be outlawed necessarily requires the belief that oral contraceptives should be outlawed.

[ari-freedom]

yes...but then it wouldn’t be a legal product anymore.

[BykrBayb]

Your refusal to see the humanity of a human being does not give you the right to kill them.

If I don’t recognize any humanity in you, it still doesn’t give me the right to kill you.

[ari-freedom]

I think that abortion should be permitted in the case where it threatens the life of the mother. But not in all other cases.

[BykrBayb]

It is identical to oral contraceptives. Believing it should be outlawed necessarily requires the belief that oral contraceptives should be outlawed.

You are entirely wrong. I don't know if that's intentional or just your misfortune. But wrong you are.

[jude24]

Your refusal to see the humanity of a human being does not give you the right to kill them.

There's a difference between an unimplanted fetus and a living, breathing human being.

What a woman does for contraception is none of your business.

[BykrBayb]

Stoopid trolls alert. Bring hip boots.

[cacoethes_resipisco]

BykrBayb wrote:
You are entirely wrong. I don't know if that's intentional or just your misfortune. But wrong you are.

I gave you the chemical formula and description from a reputable site. They indicate I am right, regardless of your opinion.

Let me rephrase: in your considered and educated opinion, how does Plan B differ from oral contraceptives?