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If it is against their religion?

Didja see what I did there?

I think yes.

2007-09-26 02:29:00 · 33 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

33 answers

Yes. They have a conscience clause in most of their jobs. This would be covered under that clause.
It would be the same as if they wouldn't give someone strychnine just because it was prescribed.

What a lot of the abortion aficionados here forget is this; The pharmacist already has the right to refuse to give medications if it shown that the medicine should not be taken by the patient. This can be because the medicine is meant for someone older and would harm a child that it is prescribed for, which is exactly what occurred when my child was sick. The MD prescribed something. The pharmacist knew that it could be lethal to my child and informed us, refusing to fill the prescription. If not for his conscience and moral stand, my child could well be dead.

In addition, it could also be because of a strong possibility of drug interaction, if the pharmacist is aware of the other meds that the patient is taking.

Since you are most likely talking about the "Plan B" drugs, these would, indeed, be abortion pills, as it is designed to kill the baby after conception.

It is a pretty good bet that, if this was not about abortion, the pro-abortion people on here would have no trouble with a pharmacist acting on his conscience. In fact, they'd insist upon it.

2007-09-26 02:36:34 · answer #1 · answered by †Lawrence R† 6 · 6 6

First of all, I'm not sure what abortion pill you are talking about. The RU-486 is not generally available in the United States and I can guarantee most pharmacies aren't going to stock it. The Plan B pill is *not* an abortion pill. It does not kill an already-created fetus (like someone above me said), it prevents one from being created in the first place, similar to a birth control pill. However, there are also people who think that hormonal birth control (or any birth control) is against their beliefs as well, as well as people who are misinformed about the function of the morning-after pill.

But this answer is not to give a huge insight into the purpose of such drugs. The question was if clerks should be able to refuse to sell something that is legally prescribed by a doctor?

The pharmacy at my old Baptist college didn't stock birth control pills (even when I was a virgin, I used them to regulate my cycle) and I had to go across town. I think that would be a perfect place for someone with moral issues related to birth control to work.

But besides that, ideal solution is that if it is against your beliefs, AND there is another person working in the pharmacy who will dispense it, then ask that person to fill the prescription. But if there is no one else, then suck it up, do your job, and pray for the customer later.

But in no way should anyone ever have to walk out of that pharmacy being denied services for something that has been legally prescribed for her. If you believe that birth control is wrong, then don't take it. But don't force those beliefs on someone else that needs that medication, and that a doctor has agreed that it is necessary. In such a case, you are preempting the decisions of both the woman and the doctor. And the pharmacy clerk is absolutely not licensed to practice medicine in telling a person what she does or does not need for her best health.

2007-09-26 02:48:38 · answer #2 · answered by buscadora78 2 · 3 4

I can sympathize with the pharmacist's ethical dilemma, and if the employer wants to make accommodations -- such as letting another person on staff fill those prescriptions -- that's great.

But I also think the Christian pharmacist has to expect that the employer is within his rights to expect his pharmacists to fill *all* patients' prescriptions.

The Christian pharmacist should check to see whether accommodations can be made *before* accepting a position at that particular pharmacy. If not, it would probably be best to find another place to work.

So I guess what I'm saying is, I believe in freedom of choice for the pharmacist ... within reason.

2007-09-26 02:34:30 · answer #3 · answered by Cap'n Zeemboo 3 · 5 1

Would you want to live in a world in which a person who has a strong conviction that certain actions - especially actions that will terminate the life of another person - are morally wrong is forbidden to act on those convictions?

Had the people in germany who believed that the imprisoning and slaughter of Jews was wrong stood on their convictions, the Holocaust might have been prevented.

A person who has a strong moral conviction in such as a case should not only have the right to act on that conviction - as long as it is not harming someone else - but has the obligation to do so.

If the person still wants the abortion pill, they can go to the pharmacy next door. Where I normally fill my prescriptions, there are 5 other pharmacies within 5 minutes of the one I use. (A Kmart, a Walmart, a grocery store with a pharamcy and two drug stores). I also have the option of filling the prescription at the doctor's office, or through an online pharmacy.

But it would be a mistake to limit people's right to take a stand for what they believe to be morally right just becase it might inconvenience you.

2007-09-26 02:42:14 · answer #4 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 4 3

A business owner should never be forced to sell something they don't wish to sell. They should also be able to fire employees if they refuse to do the job.

Employees have every right to refuse to do something they consider immoral, but they may need to find other employment if the business owner doesn't wish to facilitate their choices.

In other words, maximize freedom and keep government out of the picture unless absolutely necessary to protect basic individual rights.

2007-09-26 02:50:00 · answer #5 · answered by Bryan Kingsford 5 · 5 0

Depends. If the Christian pharmacist owns the pharmacy, then he or she can choose to dispense (or not dispense) whatever drugs they see fit (within the law, of course). A clerk in a pharmacy should follow whatever the policy of the store is, regardless of their personal conviction.

2007-09-26 02:33:52 · answer #6 · answered by mzJakes 7 · 7 1

There is a pharmacist in the town I work in that won't sell birth control because it is against his religious beliefs.

2007-09-26 02:32:03 · answer #7 · answered by Militant Agnostic 6 · 4 0

assuming such a pill were marketed as a prescription dug...
Clerks have no say in the matter, unless they are also store proprietors.
Pharmacists are not trained to substitute their judgment for a doctor's. If their store owner/managemnt policy picked and chose what pharmaceuticals to sell, it should clearly indicate that, and such a store should not be eligible to participate in government-funded prescription plans.

2007-09-26 02:34:24 · answer #8 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 4 2

Yes, no matter what our profession is we have the right to stand up for what we believe. I quit a job (which I really needed) because the owner was being very dishonest to his customers and I refused to be a part of it!!

2007-09-26 03:32:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3 2

Should an atheist clerk in a book store be able to refuse to sell bibles ?

If it is against their beliefs.

Didja see what I did there ?

I think not.

2007-09-26 02:31:45 · answer #10 · answered by queenthesbian 5 · 12 4

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