How would you like it if your boss came to you and asked you to do something legal, but something you felt was immoral or unethical? What would you do? Would you quit? Would you do it and try and live with your conscience?
If you’ve been in that situation, you just might be a pharmacist. And if you are a pharmacist, you can’t quit, because the law says you have to do what you consider immoral or get sanctioned by the state board.
Don’t try to dodge the bullet by not stocking the objectionable pharmaceuticals; the law says you have to stock it.
Under state law, a pharmacy must maintain a representative assortment of drugs in order to meet the pharmaceutical needs of its patients - but the only drug pharmacies are required to stock is Ipecac syrup, to treat accidental poisoning.
Saxe said the stocking provision isn't intended to give pharmacies an easy avenue to avoid filling certain contraceptive prescriptions by refusing to carry the drugs. Rather, it is intended to keep pharmacies from being disciplined simply because they have run out of a certain drug, he said.
The issue particularly centers on prescriptions for emergency contraception, commonly known as the morning-after pill or Plan B, which helps prevent a pregnancy if administered within 72 hours of sex.
The State Board is trying to give Pharmacists a reasonable out to the problem by allowing them to let another pharmacist either on site or refer the customer to another business that will fill the prescription. To me, that seems reasonable.
Supporters say pharmacists have the right to a so-called "conscience clause," while opponents argue that pharmacists are bound by state laws to dispense prescribed medications regardless of personal convictions.
The State Board is trying to include the conscience clause but the pro-abortion crowd is demanding that all Pharmacists must dispense the pill or face sanctions. This is the group that bills itself pro-choice.
Amy Leftig, deputy director of public policy for the Planned Parenthood Network of Washington, said care of the patient must be the top priority.
Nancy Sapiro of the Northwest Women's Law Center agreed.
"At some point, we have to assess what these draft rules look like and figure out where to go from here," she said.
In other words, they want the rule nixed.
Why does it bother the pro-abortion crowd so much if someone acts according to their moral beliefs? We don’t force doctors and nurses to do abortions. As far as I know, a doctor can’t be forced to perform an abortion so why should we require anyone else to do that which goes against their conscience?
The left is not pro-freedom.
They want to take away private health care. They want to take away your right to a handgun. They want to restrict your use of a car. They want to tell you where you can live and how far you can commute. They want to make a pharmacist dispense a drug he or she considers morally objectionable.
I understand that there are cases where we can have choices and where we can’t. We all must pay taxes. Generally we a bound by the laws society makes that attempt to make order out of chaos. For example, no one would argue that they have a moral right to rob a bank or harm someone. However, we do allow people, in certain specific cases, to break the rules. We allow for some exceptions such as a soldier requesting Conscientious Objector status. If a soldier meets some very specific criteria, the soldier may be granted CO status and discharged rather than report for combat duty.
This is one of those times when I don’t think the world will end for anyone if we allow a pharmacist to opt out of dispensing drugs like Plan B. I’m not sure I see any harm allowing a pharmacist to refer a patient to someone who can dispense the drug.
Plan B will run you about 40 bucks, give or take. What if you don’t have 40 bucks? I guess you are then looking at Plan C or D. At least with the opt-out plan proposed by the State Board, you can still get it if you have the 40 bucks, It might mean going down the street or waiting in the next line, but you can get it.
I doubt you’ll even have worry about it that much. It’s my guess most pharmacists don’t have a problem with it anyway.
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