Doctors & Pharmacists Refusing to Prescribe the Pill

[rolanni]

Thanks to windrose for the link.

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Find out why growing numbers of doctors and pharmacists across the US are refusing to prescribe or dispense birth control pills

In April, Julee Lacey, 33, a Fort Worth, TX, mother of two, went to her local CVS drugstore for a last-minute Pill refill. She had been getting her prescription filled there for a year, so she was astonished when the pharmacist told her, "I personally don't believe in birth control and therefore I'm not going to fill your prescription." Lacey, an elementary school teacher, was shocked. "The pharmacist had no idea why I was even taking the Pill. I might have needed it for a medical condition."

Melissa Kelley, 35, was just as stunned when her gynecologist told her she would not renew her prescription for birth control pills last fall.

"She told me she couldn't in good faith prescribe the Pill anymore," says Kelley, who lives with her husband and son in Allentown, PA. Then the gynecologist told Kelley she wouldn't be able to get a new prescription from her family doctor, either. "She said my primary care physician was the one who helped her make the decision." Lacey's pharmacist and Kelley's doctors are among hundreds, perhaps thousands, of physicians and pharmacists who now adhere to a controversial belief that birth control pills and other forms of hormonal contraception--including the skin patch, the vaginal ring, and progesterone injections--cause tens of thousands of "silent" abortions every year. Consequently, they are refusing to prescribe or dispense them.

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Comments

[ailsaek.livejournal.com]

*glip* That's awful. I'm probably one of the more ambivalent people about choice/abortion I know, and even to me that's utterly beyond the pale.

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

I can certainly see the argument that someone can't be forced to prescribe birth-control/morning-after pills against their conscience, though I'm not sure I agree with it either. On the other hand, I don't see why CVS can't fire their sorry asses either. I'm not going to force a vegetarian to serve meat either, but if a waiter/waitress at a restaurant refuses to serve any of the meals the restaurant sells, well, they shouldn't work there.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Certainly, I can't dictate to the conscience of others. But -- yes. If you're a vegetarian, then you probably shouldn't be working in a steakhouse.

What's going on here is that we have militant vegetarians seeking out jobs in steakhouses for the purpose of refusing to serve anyone steak.

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

Precisely.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Wife is considering a religious discrimination lawsuit under various Human Rights clauses if that crops up 'round heah. You may or may not be aware that the Jewish rules on birth control and abortion are rather different....

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

You may or may not be aware that the Jewish rules on birth control and abortion are rather different....

Was not aware of this. Can you speak further?

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Okay, I am not a rabbi -- I'm not even Jewish (yeah, polluting the purity of the race and all that....)

But. AFAIK, the three main US Jewish groups find nothing wrong with birth control. Jewish tradition, _as I have heard it second-hand_ says that life begins at birth, not conception -- a child draws in the soul with the first breath, is one way I heard it. Abortion is not only allowed, but may be a mitzvah, a religious obligation, in some cases.

And moving to the other end of life, you may have noticed in the BDN, a rabbi commenting that the sort of life-support at current controversy in Florida is actually forbidden in Conservative and Orthodox Jewish belief. (Reform Jews seem to be wishy-washy on that, as in many theological fields.)

Judaism has no Pope -- beliefs vary widely within the community.

Now I'll stand back and let the actual practicing Jews in your readership rip me to shreds. Please note that my wife hasn't been inside a synagogue since her brother's wedding, maybe twenty years ago....

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

The question I have is, how can companies that are traded publically get away with allowing employees to refuse service in that manner? I noticed that the doctors formed their own professional groups, which I would expect they would have to do--if they tried this while working for a publically-traded HMO, wouldn't they risk lawsuits?

I honestly don't know how these rights-of-refusal laws can stand up to judicial review. Have any been reviewed?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

This is a good question, and I don't know the answer, either. Didn't think to ask the question, if it comes down to it.

I'm wondering, though -- that bit that was tacked on the budget, which allowed hospitals to exercise their conscience in the matter of abortion, without facing the penalty of losing Federal money. Could that provide a loophole?

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Mea culpa--can't spell 'publicly' worth a damn.

I'm wondering, though -- that bit that was tacked on the budget, which allowed hospitals to exercise their conscience in the matter of abortion, without facing the penalty of losing Federal money. Could that provide a loophole?

Wouldn't it depend on the hospital's professional affiliations? I could see a Catholic hospital getting away with it, maybe. But I would think that as soon as they joined any sort of HMO group, they could have trouble.

It's times like this that I wish I had given law a shot, because I'm in a scab-picking mood and this looks like it has possibilities (pardon the imagery).