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When Julee Lacey, a married mother of two, attempted to get a refill
on her birth control prescription, her CVS pharmacist refused and
told her she didn’t believe in birth control.
Situations like these could become more frequent since many conservatives
are looking to implement laws that would protect the pharmacist’s
job if they decided to refuse prescribing birth control based on
moral or religious beliefs.
Opposing Beliefs
Conservative pharmacists believe that the pharmacist’s job
is to benefit and enhance human life and stated that birth control
pills do not enhance one’s life, therefore they shouldn’t
be forced to prescribe them. Experts who opposed these views said
that pharmacists, who aren’t concerned about a woman’s
ability to make her own decisions regarding her health, should reconsider
their career as a pharmacist.
Often these arguments over birth control surface during debates
over abortion and usually the same sides are represented; those
against abortion rights often are opposed to using birth control
as a form of contraception.
Suggested Alternatives to Birth Control
While the American Pharmacists Association supports the pharmacist’s
refusal to prescribe birth control, they do believe a system needs
to be established that offers an alternative to patients. One suggested
alternative was sending the patient to another pharmacy.
Opposing experts called this alternative unacceptable and a degrading
experience for women. They suggested the pharmacist look for another
occupation.
Drug Store Policies
Lacey found another pharmacy to fill her prescription and has been
taking birth control for nine years. The pharmacist who refused
to fill her prescription still has her job. CVS’s policy states
that they would dispense legally prescribed medications to their
customers in a timely fashion, however they wouldn’t require
pharmacists to do anything that contradicted their religious beliefs.
ABC
News April 6, 2004
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