OHIO RELIGIOUS COALITION FOR REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE

P.O. BOX 82204, COLUMBUS, OHIO 43202

January 31, 2006

To the Editor of the Columbus Dispatch:

              The Walmart pharmacist who refused to dispense emergency contraceptive (EC) Plan B demanded respect for his religious beliefs and his right to exercise them, but he did not respect the religious beliefs of his customers and their right to exercise those beliefs.

              Most religions and religious people support family planning and the use of contraceptives because children fare better when they are born into nurturing environments and families prepared for parenthood. Religions taking this position include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church USA, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist and Episcopal Churches, United Church of Christ Synod, and Reform and Conservative Judaism. Even the Southern Baptist Convention regards family planning as a “moral decision for the couple” as long as their birth control prevents conception, which is what EC and oral contraceptives do. 

              Moreover, many religious people and religions do not hold this pharmacist’s belief that life begins at conception.  Judaism holds that human life begins at birth when the first breath is drawn.  Many other religious people agree, or believe that life and personhood begin at some other point during pregnancy after conception. 

              Many religions acknowledge that their members hold many different beliefs, and take the position that, because of this diversity of belief among their congregants, reproductive decisions must be made by women based on their own faith and conscience. 

              Many religious people have different beliefs from their leaders, exercise their own religious consciences, and use contraceptives, including 88% of Catholics. 

The pharmacists’ own professional organization, the American Pharmacists Association, has devised a way to respect the religious beliefs of pharmacists and patient-customers, while maintaining pharmacies’ reputations as reliable dispensers of medication.  Its Code of Ethics says: “A pharmacist respects the autonomy and dignity of each patient.”

              In 1998, the association adopted a policy that recognized “the individual pharmacist’s right to exercise conscientious refusal and supported the establishment of systems to ensure patient access to legally prescribed therapy.”  Its policy report included these steps for implementation: 

• Pharmacists who have conscientious objections to a medication must inform their employer at their earliest opportunity. 
• The employer must provide a reasonable accommodation for the pharmacist, including developing an alternate means of providing prescribed products and services to patients.
• The pharmacist has a duty to use the alternate means.
• If the alternate means do not make it possible for the patient to receive the medication in a timely fashion¸ the pharmacist has a duty to the patient to dispense the medication anyway.

              It is important that EC-Plan B be dispensed in a timely fashion inasmuch as it loses its effectiveness with each hour that passes and must be taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex.    

              The Ohio Pharmacists’ Association has adopted the American Pharmacists’ Association’s Code of Ethics.  If the Ohio group has also adopted the policies above and ensures that the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy enforces it, then the religious beliefs and practices of Ohio pharmacists and patient-customers will be respected and pharmacies’ reputation for reliability will also be maintained.  

Barbara Avery, Director
Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

488 Greenglade Avenue

Worthington, OH 43085