being a pharmacist is against my religion, or, more signs of theocracy

[sallycinnamon78]

If I had sex with a girl, the condom broke and I ejaculated in her with no other form of birth control, and she went to a pharmacist with a prescription for the morning after pill, and the pharmacist rejected it and refused to transfer it to someone else, I'd go down to that pharmacy with a 9-iron and a knife, and I'd kill that bastard.

Nobody has the right to decide other people's lives. Certainly not something as life-altering as a pregnancy. NOBODY.

I don't give a flying fuck if you believe in God, Allah, Buddha, or some magical leprechaun that lives in the tail of Halley's Comet. You DO NOT force pregnancy on someone that you don't even know based on your own personal convictions.

It's tantamount to a rapist saying in court "Well I know she's pregnant, but that's too bad, because I believe very strongly that I have a right to knock her up."

No. This is unacceptable.

If you can't fill a damn prescription, get the fuck out of the pharmacies. I don't give two shits what you believe in, and I don't give one shit for what your God tells you is right, you have no right to make life-altering decisions on this scale for someone you don't even know.

 

[deep]

If I had sex with a girl, the condom broke and I ejaculated in her with no other form of birth control, and she went to a pharmacist with a prescription for the morning after pill, and the pharmacist rejected it and refused to transfer it to someone else, I'd go down to that pharmacy with a 9-iron and a knife, and I'd kill that bastard.

.

Dave,

I agree these people should check their religious beliefs at the door.

I hope you will retract your physical threat.
I believe you lose the argument resorting to violence or threats of.

 

[sallycinnamon78]

 

[deep]

So if you and Dave broke a condom
you would be happy if he was arrested
for knifing to death some loser, nut job pharmacist?

 

[sallycinnamon78]

Christ on a friggin' BIKE.

 

[trevster2k]

Good rant Dave!

 

[Sherry Darling]

And women don't only use birth control pills to prevent pregnancy; many of them use the pill to regulate their periods. This isn't necessarily just a sex issue; it's also a health issue.

Thank you for remembering this, GG! I could actually, according to my GYN, be a greater risk of uterine or cervical cancer without my "birth control". I am one of these women, and if some idiot decides s/he has the right to make medical decisions for MY body, I will have his or her job.

What blinders some people have on!

 

[anitram]

This is a simple issue.

A pharmacist is not licensed to make medical decisions. Prescribing birth control is a decision made by a professional who holds an MD degree in consultation with his/her patient. The pharmacist has nothing to do with this process; he merely dispenses drugs and as such has no right making decisions which directly impact an individual's health.

Notice how these pharmacists are always up in arms when it comes to contraceptives women use. I don't see them dumping their Trojans out into the trash.

 

[Teta040]

Yes, good point, it's always the WOMAN who is at fault. They should then ban condoms as well. But condoms aren't sold at the pharmmacy; at your local CVS they're bought in the normal store aialses, just like the maxipads.


Hm, that's an interesting sidethread in itself...

 

[deep]

Gov. Blagojevich takes emergency action to protect women’s access to contraceptives Files emergency rule to prevent pharmacies from turning women away, announces disciplinary action against Chicago retail pharmacy for refusing to fill prescriptions for contraceptives New toll-free phone number enables women to report non-compliant pharmacies to state regulators

 

[80sU2isBest]

When I came back to the forums, I told myself I wouldn't post in Free Your Mind. Well, I broke that rule accidentally previously, so I'll go ahead and post here. I'm still not going to argue, just wanted to post some food for additional thought.

Would you folks think it would be okay for the entire pharmacy to set a policy that they will not dispense birth control? The question then becomes "Does a business owner have the right to decide for himself what to sell and what not to sell?"

 

[pax]

The problem I have with all of this is that oral contraceptives can be used for purposes other than contraception. Even if a pharmacist is totally opposed to contraception, a woman could come in with those same beliefs, even, and a birth control prescription for her acne or irregular periods. But because the prescription is for the Pill, the pharmacist could turn her down. Similarly, if I worked at Wal-Mart, I wouldn't have the right to refuse to sell someone a gun just because they could use it to shoot someone.

But that's not even the central issue here. This is not like a bar turning away a violent drunk or a hotel turning away a known prostitute, which they both have the right to do. Filling a birth control prescription does not mean that other customers might take their business elsewhere, or that other customers having prescriptions filled at the same time will somehow be disturbed or upset.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I heard about this some time ago and thought it was one of those jokes where we exaggerate to what new lows the "moral majority" will stoop to...imagine my horror upon finding out that there are such fanatics. Welcome to the United States of Iran. Unf***ingbelievable.

 

[melon]

Would you folks think it would be okay for the entire pharmacy to set a policy that they will not dispense birth control? The question then becomes "Does a business owner have the right to decide for himself what to sell and what not to sell?"

No. There are professional standards in medicine. Would it be okay for a real estate agency to set a policy that they will not service blacks? Jews? Non-Christians? No.

If pharmacists' religion(s) hamper their ability to do their job, then they can quit and find a new profession.

Melon

 

[80sU2isBest]

No. There are professional standards in medicine. Would it be okay for a real estate agency to set a policy that they will not service blacks? Jews? Non-Christians? No.

If pharmacists' religion(s) hamper their ability to do their job, then they can quit and find a new profession.

Melon

But is it the same, Melon? In your example, the real estate agent sells homes, but refuse to sell them to a certain subset of people.

In my example, the pharmacy chooses not to sell birth control to anyone at all.

Since birth control is not a medical emergency, and since other pharmacies do sell it, should the government be able force a business owner to see something he does not wish to sell?

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

should the government be able force a business owner to see something he does not wish to sell?

But if someone is going into some sort of business, I would assume that they know full well what could be sold in their line of work. If they find they wouldn't feel comfortable selling that stuff to someone, why bother joining that business anyway? Why not just find another line of work that would better suit them?

Angela

 

[80sU2isBest]

I am a web designer by trade. But I will not create pornographic web sites. Should I just go ahead and decide to get out of the web sit business, or am I entitled to only contract out on the types of web sites I am comfortable with? It is my money/lack of it, after all.

 

[BVS]

I am a web designer by trade. But I will not create pornographic web sites. Should I just go ahead and decide to get out of the web sit business, or am I entitled to only contract out on the types of web sites I am comfortable with? It is my money/lack of it, after all.

You're comparing web design to healthcare? No offense but it's not even close.

 

[80sU2isBest]

You're comparing web design to healthcare? No offense but it's not even close.

I am not comparing healthcare to web design.

Moonlit Angel said:

"But if someone is going into some sort of business, I would assume that they know full well what could be sold in their line of work. If they find they wouldn't feel comfortable selling that stuff to someone, why bother joining that business anyway? Why not just find another line of work that would better suit them?"

What I am saying is that since it is my own business, am I allowed to refuse to sell what I do not want? Should the fact that I don't want to create pornographic web sites keep me out of the business altogether?

In that respect, the situation is the same. If I open my own pharmacy shop and decide not to sell birth control, should the government be able to tell me "sell it or get out of the business"? If you believe that the government has that right, what would be the basis in law for that? Is birth control a medical emergency? Please bear in mind that sexual relations are not a necessity, and if someone wants to buy birth control, they'd be able to at any number of pharmacies. But, as a business owner, I should have the right not to dispense non-emergency prescriptions, and the customer has every right to impact my finances by boycotting me.

 

[anitram]

Is birth control a medical emergency? Please bear in mind that sexual relations are not a necessity, and if someone wants to buy birth control, they'd be able to at any number of pharmacies.

Why do you equate the pill solely with "sexual relations"?

I will give you a personal (and 100% true) example.

In layman's terms (I don't want to get too much into scientific lingo), I have a genetic defect in that I cannot produce an enzyme which is required to convert one type of hormone from the inactive to the active form. As such, there is a birth control pill on the market which I am required to be on indefinitely, for the rest of my life, excepting periods during which I wish to have a child. If I do not have the pill, my endocrine system goes completely out of whack, and it can take about 6-9 months, from previous experience to have it regulated again after going back on this medication.

Now you tell me why any pharmacist has the right to deny me this medication simply because it also provides me with birth control on the side?

They are harming my life. They are making my body suffer great discomfort. They are screwing up my chemical balance.

For their God.

Because that's what he would really want?

 

[80sU2isBest]

Now you tell me why any pharmacist has the right to deny me this medication simply because it also provides me with birth control on the side?

They are harming my life. They are making my body suffer great discomfort. They are screwing up my chemical balance.

For their God.

Because that's what he would really want?

This isn't about religion. It's about government interference.

You can't go down the street to another pharmacist?

You would rather set the precedent of allowing the government to dictate what non-emergency items a business owner must sell?

 

[Irvine511]

This isn't about religion. It's about government interference.

You can't go down the street to another pharmacist?

You would rather set the precedent of allowing the government to dictate what non-emergency items a business owner must sell?

in many small towns, there is only one pharmacist.

the big deal, i think, is the morning-after pill, and if the only pharmacist in town says no, then you've got a big problem on your hands.

i'm happy to let the government enforce the delivery of perscription medication.

 

[BVS]

Should libraries be able to ban certain books due to moral objection?

 

[anitram]

You can't go down the street to another pharmacist?

Why should I have to?

Why can't a black person go down the street to a restaurant where the owner will allow them to eat at?

 

[melon]

Since birth control is not a medical emergency, and since other pharmacies do sell it, should the government be able force a business owner to see something he does not wish to sell?

According to a set of long-running medical ethics, a pharmacist cannot interject his personal or religious biases into his work.

There is a large difference between not wanting to make pornographic websites and medicine. The expected code of ethics is different. Period.

Melon

 

[80sU2isBest]

Why should I have to?

Why can't a black person go down the street to a restaurant where the owner will allow them to eat at?

Melon already tried that analogy - and it's not the same.

As I said, the pharmacy in my question isn't singling out a certain type of person to not sell birth control to; the pharmacy isn't selling it to anyone at all.

 

[melon]

A pharmacy should offer and dispense any prescription drug that the FDA has approved. That is the expected code of medical ethics, and, as I said before, if a pharmacist objects to dispensing drugs, they should choose a new profession.

Melon

 

[80sU2isBest]

According to a set of long-running medical ethics, a pharmacist cannot interject his personal or religious biases into his work.

There is a large difference between not wanting to make pornographic websites and medicine. The expected code of ethics is different. Period.

Melon

So, there is a long-running ethic that people who won pharmacies must sell birth control, a non-emergency prescription?

 

[melon]

So, there is a long-running ethic that people who won pharmacies must sell birth control, a non-emergency prescription?

If it is a prescription medication and FDA-approved, then yes.

Melon

 

[80sU2isBest]

A pharmacy should offer and dispense any prescription drug that the FDA has approved.

So, you are in favor of the government forcing pharmacies to sell the abortion pill?