Monday, December 19, 2005

If Pharmacists Can Refuse to Fill Birth Control then Why Can't Soldiers Refuse to Kill?

This op/ed by Ted Rall "The War Over Our Genitals" (via The Smirking Chimp) makes a pt which sums up precisely why pharmacists cannot refuse to perform the duties that their job and training requires of them: "When a soldier refuses an order to shoot someone, it's virtually impossible to obtain 'conscientious objector' status. A soldier who refuses to kill faces a crt martial and possible prison sentence. But when a pharmacist refuses to dispense a drug that would prevent a woman from becoming pregnant with her rapist's child, he's merely 'following his principles'--and enjoys the support of his state legislature." When a soldier refuses to kill, the retort is usually this: You knew what being a soldier entailed. You knew that you might have to kill and go to war. You can't later claim that you can't perform the duties that your job and training requires. Well, pharmacists know what being a drug dispenser entails. Pharmacists know that their job and training requires them to dispense prescription drugs that may be contraceptives. If they have a problem w/ dispensing such drugs, then let's make pharmacies that will dispense any and all drugs to any and all patients w/ a valid & legally obtained Rx, and have the pharmacy advertise itself as such a pharmacy AND then let's have pharmacies that will pick and choose which drugs it will dispense and which patients it will serve and have the pharmacy advertise itself as a picking & choosing kind of pharmacy. At least all potential customers will know what exactly they are getting into when they park their car and decide to hand over their Rx to a judgmental theocrat.
Posted by Tina :: 12:35 AM :: 6 Comments:

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