The American Center for Law and Justice, a theocon group led by so-called-evangelist Pat Robertson, has filed suit is to stop Illinois from requiring pharmacies to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, saying that the law doesn’t allow pharmicists to refuse to fill prescriptions on religious or moral grounds.
This suit is wrong on so many levels.
First of all, the pharmacists’s job is to fill prescriptions – not to make moral or ethical judgements. If a pharmacist refuses to fill a prescription for moral or religious reasons, he should:
- find a colleague who will fill the prescription; and
- find a new line of work.
There are some phamacies that have done the right thing, including Walgreen’s, the store named in the suit for indefinitelty suspending five phamacists for refusing to fill orders for emergency contraception. This is the proper way to go about these things, a lesson that should be learned by Wal-Mart and Target.
Secondly, these people are hypocrites. They believe in helping people – at least that should be their motivation for becoming pharmacists. Yet they are denying help to people in need. Sure, this need may not fit the definition of “right” or “moral” by the pharmicist’s personal standards, but these judgements should not enter the picture. If they want to get Biblical, “judge not lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7:1).
Some will argue that “it’s what Jesus would have wanted.” But this, too, is not for the pharmacist to decide. If you believe the Bible, the ultimate arbiter is God. And most pious peoples’ discussions with God are extremely one-sided. If they are hearing direct words from God, perhaps pharmacy is not their ideal line of work.
And this ties into the general theocon misconception: that they are the only ones who know what the framers of the Consititution had in mind. Unless we can somehow bring forth the founding fathers to the 21st century, it’s impossible to say on most matters. There are some things that are very clear (e.g. the separation of powers to prevent a power grab by zealots, like I wrote about earlier today), but most of these things are now extremely out of context. No one group can know what, exactly, people like Jefferson, Madison, Washington and Hancock would think of today’s world.
And it is not for me – or anybody else, for that matter – to say. We have to work with the documents we’re given, and we need to use modern context for our decision making. That’s the only perspective we have.
So I hope that the Illinois court throws out this suit. If I were to refuse to do my job, I’d be fired – and Walgreen’s did the right thing. Pat Robertson and the ACLJ can crawl back under thr rock from whence they came.
CRAZYCRAWLER
21 December 2005 — 17:45
As a pharmacist, I will tell you that pharmacists are people that make ethical and moral decisions daily. We are governed by laws based on ethics. If those ethics don’t happen to agree with yours, suddenly we are the bad guy! If our ideas meshed perfectly with yours, you would wholeheartedly accept our ethics. Who gave you the authority to determine that other peoples’ ethics are irrelevant? Who are you to judge? Have you ever heard of a situation where someone’s desire is not in their best interest, or if it is not your problem, you may simply not want their actions to dictate yours? If not, perhaps you should become a parent some day. The Pro-choise movement is all about choise as long as you choose the way they want you to. My possition on this issue is that abortion should be available in cases of incest, rape, or the health of the mother is endangered. That would make me pro-choise in some circles.
What we are lacking in this country is civility. No one should be forced to do things they are against. If a woman seeks an abortion or morning-after pill, that is her business. Why should a health care professional be forced to do something they consider to be wrong just because it would be inconvenient for someone seeking that service?
How about we all take care of our own business and if someone else doesn’t like our choises, then let’s let them think what they will and we’ll think what we will. There is always the option of going to another pharmacy, now isn’t there. If you’re basing your night’s activities based on what pharmacy might be open tomorrow, you might want to reconsider your choises.