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UK Pharmacy Applauded for Upholding Muslim Pharmacist’s Right to Refuse Early Abortion Drug

“Conscience clause” of Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain’s ethics code cited

By Gudrun Schultz

ROTHERHAM, United Kingdom, October 19, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Muslim chemist with the Lloyds pharmacy chain has refused to distribute the abortifacient Plan B medication, a decision supported by Lloyds management.

Jo-Ann Thomas, 37, repeatedly asked the chemist to supply her with the pills but was refused, the Telegraph reported today. When she asked why, she was told he was a “deeply religious Muslim.”

“I am a 37-year-old woman, not a daft girl who doesn’t know what she’s doing, and the chemist has no right to tell me whether I can or can’t take the pill,” Thomas said.

“It’s my choice, not his. It’s his religion, not mine. He’s a dispensing chemist and his job is to dispense drugs.”

A spokesman for the Lloyds chain, which includes 1,300 UK pharmacies, apologized to Ms. Thomas for her inconvenience but said the pharmacist was well within his rights to refuse to hand out the “emergency“ contraception, which may cause an abortion if conception has already occurred when the drug is taken.

Referring to the “conscience clause” of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain’s ethics code, the Lloyds’s representative said, “It states that if supplying the morning-after pill is contrary to a pharmacist’s personal, religious or moral beliefs they are entirely with their rights not to supply it.”

In 2004 Lloyds defended a London pharmacist who refused to sell the morning-after pill to a female customer on the grounds of his Catholic faith. A spokesman told the Mirror that a pharmacist can refuse to sell a medication on moral or religious grounds as long as they refer the person to another pharmacy.

“He objected on religious grounds, which he is fully within his rights to do,” said Lloyds’ pharmacy director Andy Murdock. “Another member of staff, and a supervisor, had lengthy discussions with Ms. Gooch and partner. They were given advice as to alternative sources.”

U.S. pharmacists have not fared so well during recent disputes over freedom of conscience. Numerous court cases in multiple states have resulted from pharmacists’ refusal to dispense contraceptive drugs that may cause abortion.

Wisconsin pharmacist Neil Noesen was reprimanded by his pharmacy board last year, and had limits placed on his license to practice as a pharmacist, after a woman filed a complaint of unprofessional conduct against Noesen for his refusal to fill a prescription for oral contraceptives.

A Missouri pharmacist was fired last January after she refused to distribute Plan B medication, and three Illinois pharmacists were suspended without pay in 2005 in an effort to force them to sign pledges promising to distribute the medication.

To express appreciation to Lloyds Pharmacy for upholding freedom of religion and conscience:
http://www.lloydspharmacy.co.uk/home-page/talk-to-us.htm

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:

UK Pharmacist Refuses to Dispense Abortion-Causing Drugs Citing Catholic Faith
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/nov/04112507.html

Abortion-Causing Drugs Must be offered by Pharmacies – US Federal Law Proposes
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05041501.html

US Pharmacists Battle over Forced Dispensation of Abortion Drugs
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05041504.html

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