Michael Medved today had a segment dealing with a Chicago pharmacist that refused to dispense the 'morning after' pill. The Chicago Sun Times has the story (in a twisted sort of way.)
I work in a printing shop (Century Press in Inglewood Calif. Plug, plug)
I have to wonder if a local adult book store walked through the door and demanded we print pornographic images for them would the government force us to do so? I think not. It would be the same spiritual/religious/moral choice on our part that would be trampled by any government rules/laws to force us to do so.
well-meaning but without understanding" - - Mr. Justice Louis D. Brandeis, 1928 - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is not a sin to be ignorant but it is a sin to remain ignorant. - - prying1, 2006
Interesting post. I couldn't find the Medved article on this at the link, so I don't know what he said.
ReplyDeleteYour analogy to pornography is interesting, but flawed. No matter who or what the person is with such a request for you, the reproduction of those images is not something that he requires for a real reason. The filling of a prescription for birth control pills is (or may be, anyway). Obviously, I'm ignoring the morning-after pill issue because I don't really have too much of a problem with that.
While I realize that most of the birth control pills are given for the stated reason, in many cases they are given to help a woman deal with overly painful menstruations, or to help regulate the hormonal fluctuations that accompany menstruation. My wife is one such person. For many years, she would be all but paralyzed by her painful cramping during her period, and the only way to lessen those cramps was by the pill. Interestingly enough, not every brand had the same results, so they experimented until they found one that worked the best. In addition, she has later been diagnosed with a mental illness, and the hormonal fluctuations during that period each month would seriously compromise her mental state. Once again, the docs used the pill to try to minimize those fluctuations.
We have been married for almost 20 years and have children, so we are not using the pills as abortifacients, only for these other effects.
While I agree with you in principle about morality being a guide for people in their lives and occupations, in a case where the results of your occupation can literally save the lives of persons, I don't think that you really have the luxury of refusing to dispense a legal prescription, or refusing to return the prescription to the person. There is no way to know why the prescription is being used from the written prescription, and assuming that it's being used for one purpose only can be wrong, and result in consequences the pharmacist cannot foresee.