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