I hate that. As pharmacists it's not their job to judge what their customers are buying. I bet if someone decided not to dispense Viagra 'on moral grounds' they'd be in trouble.

I read about a woman who was raped, and in the emergency room a nurse refused to give her the morning-after pill, because she didn't feel it was morally right to stop her possibly becoming pregnant. I can't remember where I read it, but I'm willing to bet it happened.

I think we discussed the issue of the right to refuse to sell someone something on another thread in General debate, someone worked at a Bar and had some issues regarding selling alcohol to a pregnant woman I believe most were in favour of the bar person acting according to his or her moral beliefs.

I disagreed with them. It's not a shop vendor's job to refuse service based on their own judgments.

Besides, it's a medicine we're talking about here, and it might not even be for pregnancy. A lot of women go on birth control to stabilise their periods, for example. I was going to, but my blood pressure was too screwy.

"I disagreed with them. It's not a shop vendor's job to refuse service based on their own judgments."

Its a vendors Right (not Job) to refuse to serve anyone he damn well pleases.

I think they have the right to refuse to sell what they want....

HOWEVER they have to do it in the way set down by law- meaning they have to quietly leave the counter, go to the back, find someone else to fill the prescription, and be done. Not embarrass the woman or make it their time to have a personal protest.

Although, yes, I think it would be silly not to give a woman birth control, a person has the right to do so as long as her right to get the birth control and not be lectured is still protected.

I'm a little confused here. Why would a person NOT sell something to someone because THEY believe it's wrong? I'm just picturing a waitress, refusing to bring a customer their steak, because she doesn't believe in killing animals. I'm sorry, but none of this makes sense to me.

I think it should be up to the establishment owner what to allow their employees to refuse to do. If the owner says the pharmacist must fill prescriptions for the pill, then he/she either does it or risks getting fired. If the owner wants to permit them to refuse, they should refer the client to a nearby pharmacy where it is available or if no pharmacy is nearby, there should be a pharmacist on the premises who will fill the prescription. Under NO circumstances should the pharmacy or an employee refuse to hand the script back to the client if they aren't filling it.

Personally, if I were the pharmacy owner, the pharmacist would get fired if he/she refused to fill the script.

Georgie, I do not believe a person should be forced to "find someone else" for that person to obtain the medication,. The persons right to obtain the pill is not effected but the pharmacist should not be forced to help her obtain it in anyway if it goes against his/her moral beliefs, heck "getting someone else to serve her is just the same as serving her" she has her rights to obtain it from elsewhere and the pharmisist has every right not to stock the product if they so wish.

Lucy.... would you sell your child to a pedophile?

would you like to be forced to sell your child to a pedophile?

If the person has every right not to serve you meat based on their beliefs, you should not force them to serve you, you may seek to find another waitress to serve you meat, or you may find another establishment willing to serve you meat but a person should not be expected to go against their moral beliefs for someone else.... its just not right.

ms rosie, if I were the pharmacy owner I would not employ people who would sell the pill/condoms ect, or obtain them in any way you have the right to run your pharmacy according to your beleifs and I have the right to run my pharmacy according to my beliefs, hey aint democracy sweet!

I agree. If the pharmacist felt uncomfortable selling something against their beliefs, then they shouldn't work there. Go get a job where your beliefs aren't an issue. I'm paying money for something that I will buy no matter where I have to go to get it. As my old boss always said "the customer is always right".

I'm sorry, but your question really doesn't make any sense. Nobody in their right mind would ever sell a child to a pedophile. But people eat meat and sell birth control pills every day.

If the waitress is against meat that much, she should get a job at a fruit stand. Why should a paying customer have to go to another store just because someone doesn't "think" it's right? Her beliefs are that killing animals is wrong, but yet she chooses to be a waitress at a place that sells meat. That makes about as much sense as a pharmacist, who is against birth control, getting a job in which he will be required to fill and sell birth control pills. The point is, their beliefs are not my problem. I am there to purchase something legally, and it is their job to sell it to me. They are getting paid to work, not to judge.

Women have a legal right to birth control, and not to be discriminated against because they want it. If you don't want to dispense it, fine, but you can't infringe on that woman's rights to have it, and that means finding someone else who will get it for her.

But this makes me question your intentions. Would you refuse to serve her out of a true belief that it is wrong, or just to make a statement?

What's the legality of this, anyways? It's a legal drug, how can a pharmacist decide not to sell it on a whim without evidence based practice guiding them? And criminy, no one knows who's walking up to the window or their reasons.

It's not a pharmacist's job to dole out their version of morality. They get paid to do their job; which is to dole out medicine.

Maybe the next step is for them to refuse to dispense antipsychotics on the grounds that consumers could pray for relief. Or refuse blood pressure medications because they think a patient should lose weight.

If a pharmacist cannot delineate between the autonomy of their customer and their own moral beliefs, they need to find new employment.

It's funny how it doesn't seem to bother the Pope how many abortions his words have caused.

He tells pharmacists not to give birth control, so women get pregnant and abort. I guess that's better than the sin of using birth control.

It's such a load of crap...if this was done with any other drug, those pharmacists would be out on their backsides in a split second. It should be a job requirement for potential pharmacy employees to not have religious or personal beliefs that would interfere with their ability to do their jobs. Sorry, but these people are not getting paid to play God with the lives of others, and they should be fired immediately after they decide it's okay to take another woman's life into their own hands. And if they refuse her contraception and she gets pregnant, that pharmacist should be billed for the abortion or be required to pay for hospital visits and child support should the woman keep the fetus. If they want to screw with someone's life, they should get screwed right back.

I have also heard of fundie pharmacists refusing to fill scrips for post-abortion antibiotics...even though said medication could mean the difference between living and dying for the woman seeking those meds, but since such women are filthy unworthy subhuman whores, they should die and go to hell (sarcasm off).

What does that have to do with anything?

IF he OWNS the shop. However most these pharmacists work for companies and agreed to abide by job requirements and for pharmacists it is dispensing medicine.
They knew it when they took the job so either they took the job under false pretenses, which can be a cause for dismissal, or they need to abide by their promise to their employer to fullfill their duties.

What's your problem with condoms??

It's legal if they do as I described, which I find reasonable. They respect that person's decision to use birth control by quietly finding another pharmacist to sell it, and they have the autonomy not to personally sell it. It is not legal for them to go on a tirade or just close the door in her face.