Slippery Slope

There is a movement across the country to allow an individual pharmacist the right to decide not to fulfill a legitimate prescription, if so doing would conflict with their morals. Reported cases so far deal only with birth control pills, which are prescribed for reasons other than birth control. Three states currently have such laws on the books; 10 others considered similiar legislation this year. In October, a pharmacist in Wisconsin had a disciplinary hearing for refusing to refill a birth control pill prescription.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote a hard-hitting editorial in the wake of a suburban Atlanta woman's run-in with an "no go" pharmacist:

Clearly, individuals can disagree about contraception, abortion, assisted suicide or execution by lethal injection, all of which are involved in this issue. But to allow pharmacists to impose their beliefs on customers is unreasonable. Additionally, permitting pharmacists to deny drugs on subjective grounds is an open-ended invitation to refuse to fill any prescription.

See Atlanta Journal Constitution (editoral, registration required); Capital Times (Madison, WI); Chicago Maroon (editorial); Desert Sun (USA Today story); Feminist Majority Foundation; SF Gate