The governor of Illinois has said that no pharmacy can refuse to provide any form of birth control for a woman with a valid prescription-including the morning after pill. Now two pharmacists from Walgreens are sueing the state for the right to refuse to issue this pill on the basis of their moral(religious) convictions. They believe the morning after pill is a miniature abortion.


I am not going to talk about whether it is or isn't an abortion. What I am going to
talk about is if they have a right to refuse based on their religious convictions.


ABSOLUTELY NOT!


Let us visit an emergency room doctor. This doctor is a Jehovah's Witness and an accident victim comes in who has lost a lot of blood. This person needs a blood transfusion or they will die. Jehovah's witnesses do not believe in blood transfusions.

Does this physician have the right to say they won't give this patient a blood transfusion? No, they don't. If this doctor let the patient die instead of trying to save his life with the transfusion we would call that malpractice and very likely we would also call it murder. If this doctor felt that strongly, perhaps emergency medicine is not for him. Maybe he needs to enter podiatry where this won't be an issue.


So you think this a completely different issue because in that case the patient dies because of the doctor's refusal. You think that is so different because all the morning after pill does is prevent a pregnancy(which some women would see as a little bit of death in and of itself) Well, you would be wrong if you thought that, but I can accomodate your thinking. This example is for you.


A Christian doctor with a Jehovah's Witness patient is not allowed to force the patient to take a blood transfusion even if it is necessary and life saving. The doctor might think the Jehovah's Witness was committing suicide by refusing the transfusion. And of course, Christians are against suicide. Nonetheless, the doctor cannot force treatment on the patient, even if they feel like they would be assisting in that suicide.


A doctor is not allowed to base a patients care on their own beliefs, they have to base their care by the patient's beliefs. There are countless other examples I could give regarding doctors and patient care but I think that these two are sufficient enough to start the mental ball rolling.


I bet everyone could think of one other example where a doctor might want to refuse treatment, or refuse to perform a procedure for some moral or religious reason. But the fact remains that in all of these cases the doctor is just not allowed to make these decisions for their patients.


A lot of people would say that this is different because it is abortion. I agree that abortion is a touchy subject, and I am not making a declaration for or against abortion. Again, it doesn't matter.


These pharmacists are being trusted with their patient's well-being, the same as any other healthcare professional and the final word is that they just shouldn't have the right to refuse their patients a legitimate prescription just because it violates their morals. If the thought of distributing this drug is so heinous to them, it is probably time for them to get out of the pharmacy business.


Maybe they can find work in the healthcare branch of the republican government, denying people essential health care and misinforming them about the dangers. They'd fit right in!