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Originally posted by tinydancer
Interesting article, Rudey. I still feel that if one has such strong feelings about providing certain medications, perhaps pharmacy is not a profession they shoud pursue.
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I agree. It's not like birth control pills are a new drug that the pharmacist didn't know about before becoming a pharmacist. Also, there are a lot of reasons a woman could be taking birth control pills besides just contraception (which a few people mentioned before), and refusing to fill the prescription could be putting the woman's health at risk.
Also, the author of the article made a really good point when she said
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Just as important, pharmacies must make crystal clear what sort of behavior is expected of refusing pharmacists. The situation in Dallas apparently degenerated into an uncivil mess, with the assistant store manager pressuring the recalcitrant druggist to hand over the pills and the pharmacist in turn responding with some inflammatory, medically specious statement about birth control pills causing cancer--as if that had anything to do with her refusal. Stores should instruct pharmacists in such cases to reassure patients that under no circumstances will they be left stranded. And, of course, sermonizing should be strictly forbidden. It's one thing for a pharmacist to avoid participating in what she considers a gravely immoral act. It's quite another for her to traumatize my eternal soul in the process.
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Even though, in the pharmacist's opinion, it is morally wrong to take birth control pills, it is just as--if not more so--morally wrong to tell somone that they are going to get cancer/go to hell/have deformed babies, etc. for taking the drug.
Also, regarding the link between cancer and the pill, it has been found that it does slightly increase the risk for some cancers and slightly decrease the risk for others, but each study has its drawbacks and is open to interpretation. However, if there was a 100% definitive link between the pill and cancer, you can be sure that FDA would pull it from the market. They would not let a medication that is that unsafe be on the market for as long as the pill has been.
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