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Pharmacists fired for denying 'morning after' pill
CNN.com by AP from the Web, February 13, 2004
DENTON, TX (AP) --Eckerd Corp. has fired three pharmacists who declined
to fill an emergency contraception prescription for a woman who had been
raped, one of the pharmacists said.
Gene Herr said Wednesday he and two co-workers were fired January 29,
six days after refusing to fill the prescription. He said his own refusal
was based on religious grounds.
Eckerd has declined to comment on their employment status. Joan
Gallagher, the vice president of communications for Largo, Florida-based
Eckerd would say only that the company has taken appropriate disciplinary
action.
Herr, 33, of Denton, said he declined to fill the prescription for the
so-called "morning-after pill" because he believes it could have killed
the embryo if the woman already had conceived. Though he had declined five
or six times in the past to fill such prescriptions, it was the first time
he had been handed one for a rape victim, he said.
"I went in the back room and briefly prayed about it," said Herr, who
had worked for Eckerd for five years. "I actually called my pastor ... and
asked him what he thought about it."
The two other pharmacists who were present also declined to fill the
prescription. Herr would not name them.
The rape victim had the prescription filled at a nearby pharmacy.
Gallagher said Eckerd's employment manual says pharmacists are not
allowed to opt out of filling a prescription for religious, moral or
ethical reasons.
Herr said he did not know about that policy until his supervisors
questioned him about it shortly before he was fired.
"In my mind if I agree to work for someone knowing that that's their
policy, then I should submit to that policy. But I didn't even know about
it," he said.
Morning-after pills are higher doses of the hormones in regular birth
control pills and have been sold under the brand names Plan B and Preven
since 1998. Taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse, the pills are at
least 75 percent effective at preventing pregnancy.
Thanks to
www.gaypasg.org for
pointing out this article. |
