2008 Woodie Awards
My Pills Please, Not a Morality Lesson
Anna Goldberg
Issue date: 4/27/05 Section: Opinion
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Rights that women have long fought for are once again being threatened as a number of pharmacists around the country have recently refused to fill prescriptions for birth control pills and emergency contraceptives stating that dispensing the medication clashes with their moral and religious beliefs.
My prescription to them is to get another job.
If a person morally opposes a use of firearms but still wants to become a police officer, we would expect him to overcome his issues and do his job. The same goes for doctors, lawyers and any other professionals with any moral objections to their chosen careers whose work directly or indirectly affects those who might not share their views.
So why should pharmacists be held to a different standard? They went into their field knowing the tasks they would have to perform and still willingly chose that line of work.
And as for morality, where are their objections to dispensing anti-depressants that have been linked to suicides, especially among children?
That's not to say that they don't have a right to their beliefs, they do. It's America after all and our freedom of religion guaranteed under the First Amendment.
But by keeping prescriptions hostage and lecturing customers about morality, which a number of customers had to face when trying to obtain their medication, they are not practicing their religion, they are forcing it onto others.
The American Pharmacists Association feels that they found a solution that will favor both pharmacists and clients by reaffirming their policy that gives the pharmacists a right to refuse to fill the prescription as long as they provide an alternative way for the client to obtain the medication.
But despite APA's decision Pharmacists for Life, a pro-life organization that claims about 1,600 pharmacists around the World, has stated that the pharmacists not only have a right to refuse to fill the prescription but also refuse to transfer to any other pharmacy.
And even if they did agree to transfer the prescription what good would that do to a 18-year-old girl living in a place with only one pharmacy, or someone seeking an emergency contraceptive that has to be taken within the first 72 hours?
"It's a slap in the face to women," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
And she can't be more right.
Because not only do the actions of these pharmacists imply that women have no rights in regards to their own reproductive system but also that they are incapable of making the right decisions about their own lives.
The bottom line is that pharmacists need to stop overstepping their boundaries and remember that they get paid to fill doctor issued prescriptions, not to give lectures on morality.
My prescription to them is to get another job.
If a person morally opposes a use of firearms but still wants to become a police officer, we would expect him to overcome his issues and do his job. The same goes for doctors, lawyers and any other professionals with any moral objections to their chosen careers whose work directly or indirectly affects those who might not share their views.
So why should pharmacists be held to a different standard? They went into their field knowing the tasks they would have to perform and still willingly chose that line of work.
And as for morality, where are their objections to dispensing anti-depressants that have been linked to suicides, especially among children?
That's not to say that they don't have a right to their beliefs, they do. It's America after all and our freedom of religion guaranteed under the First Amendment.
But by keeping prescriptions hostage and lecturing customers about morality, which a number of customers had to face when trying to obtain their medication, they are not practicing their religion, they are forcing it onto others.
The American Pharmacists Association feels that they found a solution that will favor both pharmacists and clients by reaffirming their policy that gives the pharmacists a right to refuse to fill the prescription as long as they provide an alternative way for the client to obtain the medication.
But despite APA's decision Pharmacists for Life, a pro-life organization that claims about 1,600 pharmacists around the World, has stated that the pharmacists not only have a right to refuse to fill the prescription but also refuse to transfer to any other pharmacy.
And even if they did agree to transfer the prescription what good would that do to a 18-year-old girl living in a place with only one pharmacy, or someone seeking an emergency contraceptive that has to be taken within the first 72 hours?
"It's a slap in the face to women," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
And she can't be more right.
Because not only do the actions of these pharmacists imply that women have no rights in regards to their own reproductive system but also that they are incapable of making the right decisions about their own lives.
The bottom line is that pharmacists need to stop overstepping their boundaries and remember that they get paid to fill doctor issued prescriptions, not to give lectures on morality.
