Posted on 12/03/2005 2:17:17 PM PST by wagglebee
A Southern Illinois abortion foe, backed by her local Catholic diocese, is asking consumers to pull their prescriptions from Walgreens until four pharmacists, on unpaid leave for refusing to agree to fill orders for the morning-after contraceptive pill, are reinstated.
Ann Polka, manager for the Belleville Diocese's Project Rachel, a post-abortion healing program, is also asking regional residents to refrain from doing other shopping at the chain's stores.
"This is an unjust action," Polka told the Belleville, Illinois, News-Democrat. "They are being let go because they couldn't in good conscience dispense the drugs."
At issue is the Plan B morning-after contraceptive – not to be confused with RU486, the abortion pill used to terminate later-term pregnancies. Plan B contraceptives are essentially very high, multiple dosages of birth-control pills taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex to prevent ovulation or implantation. If ovulation is prevented, no egg is fertilized and no pregnancy occurs. But if ovulation has taken place and the egg is fertilized, the morning-after pill works to block implantation by the early embryo in the mother's womb. It is aborted, making dispensing prescriptions for the pill a matter of conscience for pro-life pharmacists.
Walgreens, in a statement following last Monday's suspensions, defended its action saying the company's policy is consistent with an Illinois state rule mandating pharmacists fill prescriptions without delay.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich filed an emergency rule April 1 requiring pharmacies to honor all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraception prescriptions. The rule is the only one of its kind in the U.S. and became permanent on Aug. 1.
"If a woman has a prescription for contraceptives, they ought to be filling that," Blagojevich told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, adding that the pharmacists' suspensions were unfortunate but not as important as protecting women's rights.
"This (rule) is unjustly imposed on Illinois by Rod Blagojevich," Polka said. "It's puzzling to me that pharmacists do not have a discretionary power."
"[Pharmacists] certainly have the right to their personal opinions, but that cannot get in the way of a woman's right to get the care that her doctor has prescribed for her," Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said. "If it is approved by the FDA and approved by a doctor, it is not a pharmacist's place to deny access."
Ottenhoff noted the law does provide an exception – pharmacies can either sell the Plan B pill along with any other contraceptives they offer or they can refuse to sell any contraceptives at all.
"It's up to the pharmacy, how they decide to comply with the rule," she said. "In this case, Walgreens did what they felt they needed to do to comply with the law in Illinois."
Pharmacists opposed to dispensing the pill are free to apply for positions at pharmacies making the later choice – or move out of state.
John Menges, one of the four Illinois pharmacists dismissed last week for refusing to sign a Walgreens pledge to dispense the pill, may have to make that choice. Thus far, Walgreens hasn't offered him a position across the Mississippi River in neighboring Missouri where pharmacists' right to conscience is recognized, but three Illinois pharmacies have contacted him.
Menges, 39, believes the FDA erred in classifying Plan B as an oral contraceptive since it acts, in at least some cases, as an abortifacient – it prevents birth rather than pregnancy. He, along with five other Southern Illinois pharmacists, are suing Illinois to end the Blagojevich rule.
Polka has marshaled the support of her diocese for the Walgreens boycott. An announcement will go out to all parishes in the church's next monthly mailing.
"These pharmacists are very courageous," she said. "We as Catholic Christians need to stand behind this."
The one the governor of Illinois enacted through executive order. These pharmacists were trained PRIOR to the development of these drugs and for years worked without being forced to dispense them.
They were pharmacists before the law was passed.
I was licensed to drive before seatbelts were required. Should I be immune to tickets for not buckling up?
as much as i disagree with abortion, I think you hit the nail on the head. I am sure they knew they would have to fill prescriptions like this. This is like joining a religious organization and demanding equal time for other religions. You know what you are getting into when you join.
Sergeant: "Corporal, take that hill".
Corporal: "Sorry sarge, that goes against my better judgement so I must refuse to acquiesce to your request".
Sergeant: "Son, didn't you agree when you signed on that you would have to fight".
Corporal: "Sure, but I reserve the right to pick and choose what fights are proper...and this ain't one of them".
And just what, pray tell, do you think that a pharmacist's 'job' is? To fill every prescription that comes by without thought, like a machine? Pharmacists refuse to fill various presciptions every day for many different reasons: drug interactions, allergies, wrong doses, forgery, legal parameters, etc... They are individually licsened professionals and are entitled (and expected)to make use their own judgments, clinical and otherwise in their practice. The pharmacists in question feel that this medication causes fetal harm (as do many other medications that they would get sued for dispensing to a pregnant woman). They are absolutely justified in making the call to choose not to dipsense a drug that will result in a miscarriage/abortion and should not be punsihed for it. There are consience clauses for doctors and nurses, why not pharmacists? The patient can simply go to another pharmacy/pharmacist that has no problem dispensing it and still get access to this drug- they are not being denied access to 'women's health care'!
So if the government stepped and required all doctors in a hospital to perform abortions, if any abortions are performed in the hospital, would that be okay with you? The hospitals would then be right in firing all the doctors who did not want to perform abortions? Doesn't matter how long a distenguished career the doctor may have had at this hospital?
There is no comparison between the examples you give and refusal to perform your job.
Good try though.
this is what happens when liberals are elected.
that might work if all the pharmacists didn't like the law.
There would likely be enough liberal pharmacists left to thwart that kind of walkoff.
Then their focus should be the Governor.
Maybe. I was thinking doctors and you know those guys. THey stick together:')
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