(SF)

Original Story Here



SEATTLE -- Pharmacists have sued Washington state over a new regulation that requires the sale of emergency contraception, also known as the "morning-after pill" and sold under the name Plan B.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court here, a pharmacy owner and two pharmacists say the rule that took effect Thursday coerces them into "choosing between their livelihoods and their deeply held religious and moral beliefs."

The state ruled earlier this year that druggists who believe emergency contraceptives are tantamount to abortion can't stand in the way of a patient's right to the drugs.

The state's Roman Catholic bishops and other opponents predicted a court challenge after the rule was adopted, saying the state was wrongly forcing pharmacists to administer medical treatments they consider immoral.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Wednesday are pharmacists Rhonda Mesler and Margo Thelen, and Stormans Inc., the owners of Ralph's Thriftway in Olympia, a grocery store that includes a pharmacy.

The owners of Ralph’s Thriftway said that for moral and religious reasons they oppose the use of Plan B pill because it interferes with the growth of a fertilized egg.

Gov. Chris Gregoire did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Plan B emergency contraception is a high dose of the drug found in many regular birth-control pills and can lower the risk of pregnancy by as much as 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

Some critics consider the pill related to abortion, although it is different from the abortion pill RU-486 and has no effect on women who already are pregnant.

The federal Food and Drug Administration made the morning-after pill available over the counter to adults in August.

Under the new state rule, pharmacists with personal objections to a drug can opt out by getting a co-worker to fill an order. But that applies only if the patient is able to get the prescription in the same pharmacy visit.

Pharmacies also are required to order new supplies of a drug if a patient asks for something that is not in stock.

Pharmacists are also forbidden to destroy prescriptions or harass patients, rules that were prompted by complaints from Washingtonians, chairwoman Rebecca Hille said.

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it’s kinda tricky. i can understand they're loathe to make anything available that may go against their nature and beliefs. after all, it’s not as if we require doctors to perform abortions, or practice any form of medicine for that matter; they choose their fields on their own. but i think it's a sign of the times that most doctors are open minded, normally withholding judgement and just providing treatment or a service. it wasn't always that way. they have come to be a mostly progressive lot and have sort of evolved the hippocratic oath to mean do not judge as well as do no harm. in a way, they have been policing themselves to keep pace with society’s value changes, and although a pharmacist's duties are not totally dissimilar to a medical doctor's, they haven't necessarily taken on the "public servant" role that so many doctors have, and they don’t have that ever important oath that would bully, cow or shame them into providing a wanted or needed service. if we allow arbitrary moral judgement by such a powerful branch of community for any drug (after all, the drugs they provide us can be life-saving as well as just life-improving), then we must allow it for all drugs, and i don’t think i’m willing to let joe doper at the pharm-aide down the street start deciding to withhold drugs i’m taking because he finds them or me morally reprehensible.


i feel for ya, i really do, but when it comes down to it you don't a.) have the training (or my permission) to override what a doctor has decided is good or bad for my body, or b.) the right to heave your morality onto my shoulders.

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Trees give peace to the souls of men * Nora Waln

The forest would be very quiet if no other birds sang than those who sing the best * Henry van Dyke

some fairly sordid tales, rambles, and anecdotes
Hypothetically Speaking * Something More * Cammy Interrupted * An Experimental Vacation * Masked * so..damn..hot * Thank You * My toy, his idea * no.19 Maple Lane * I Have A Surprise For You * Yesterday * In a Quiet Kitchen * help me decide * untitled prose * more untitled prose

A christian police officer/fire fighter can not decide to not save/help a family in crisis simply because they have a wiccan symbol on their front door.

Do your fucking job. I can't preach to my students or tell them their beliefs are right or wrong cause it's not my fucking job.

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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
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Well, keeping in the vernacular ...

It is not the State’s fucking job to compel its citizens to perform actions which they do not wish to do.

Keep the State the fuck out of the private lives of its citizens.

At least that is what the Constitution sets out as a goal.

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Eudaimonia

But the Pharmacist choice to dispense drugs. They went to school to learn how to do it. And now they are refusing to do the job that they signed up to do. They also have a STATE lisence which gives the state the right to set regulations on that business.

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Scarecrow,

That is NOT what THEY signed up to do.

That is what the State has passed a law COMPELLING them to do.

That, I believe, is the basis of the lawsuit.

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Eudaimonia

Amen Sister!

Your morals and beliefs are not mine. If you're allowed to express your beliefs by not serving me...are you not denying me my morals and beliefs?

If I am required by law to obtain a prescription from an authorized location and the person working there refuses to fill the prescription...they are jeapordizing my wellbeing. How does the pharmacist know that a young lady's life might be in danger should she conceive? They don't. They're not supposed to know because they are not the doctor that prescribed the substance. They're the ones that are supposed to fill the prescription.

This is not a case of them being aware of some potential reaction between two medications prescribed to one individual, or them noticing that an inappropriate dose was prescribed. This is them refusing to provide a legal substance to a person who is authorized to obtain it.

It's kind of like a recovering alcoholic working as a cashier that refuses to sell beer to a person legally able to purchase it just because they themselves don't approve of it.

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Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.

WildIrish,

That would be true only if YOUR morals (which are, after all, quite OK, otherwise you would have already corrected them) permit you to COMPEL and COERCE others to serve you.

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Eudaimonia

I don't compel or coerce, I demand.

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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

I'm not compelling or coercing...I'm simply calling upon someone to perform the service they claim to offer. If a convenience store advertises Hood milk at $2.39 per gallon, I expect to be able to purchase it without having to worry about the lactose intolerant vegan behind the register deciding for me that I shouldn't be drinking it.





Please explain this.

__________________
Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.