Politics
Wednesday May 11, 2005
Missouri Pharmacists Bypassing Conscience Debate by Not Stocking the Abortifacient Morning-After Pill
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri, May 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Most Missouri pharmacists are bypassing the conscience debate by simply not stocking the controversial abortifacient morning-after pill according to a survey of pharmacies conducted by NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) Pro-Choice Missouri. NARAL found that, of 928 pharmacies surveyed statewide, less than a third – 29 percent – carried the Plan B prescription abortifacient, marketed as “emergency contraception.”
Abortion zealots and media alike are decrying the fact that in some rural regions, such as Shannon County and Barry County, not a single pharmacy will allow their employees to cooperate in the destruction of an unborn child. Missouri lawmakers are considering a bill that would force pharmacies to fill the prescription whether they disagree with abortion or not.
Last month Democratic Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich filed an emergency amendment to the state code, requiring pharmacists to dispense medication – even if filling the prescriptions violates their conscience and religious beliefs.
“The governor is trying to make a decision that must be left to the pharmacy,” said Illinois Republican Senator Frank Watson, according to a theledger.com report. Watson’s family pharmacy in Greenville, Ill. does not stock the morning-after pill. “It's an infringement on a business decision and also on the pharmacist's right of conscience.”
Abortion advocates argue the morning-after pill is nothing more than an emergency contraceptive, denying that a “fertilized embryo” is indeed a small person. “Emergency contraceptive pills can be abortifacient if they are taken after ovulation has occurred,” emphasized retired physician Dr. Gertrude Murphy, testifying at a public hearing in Massachusetts, where a decision to force pharmacists to dispense the pill is being considered before the legislature. “An abortifacient is defined here as any medication or device that causes the death of the developing human after fertilization.”
While lawmakers in North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Indiana have proposed conscience legislation that would allow pharmacists to decline some prescriptions based on their conscience, Missouri, New Jersey and California are considering proposals that would force pharmacists to dispense the pill, even if it conflicts with their morals.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Illinois Governor Mandates Pharmacists Dispense Abortion Causing Morning-After Pills or Face Consequence
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05041203.html
US Pharmacists Battle over Forced Dispensation of Abortion Drugs
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05041504.html
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