I want to point out that women's rights are being eroded in new and surprising settings. In fact, in Carson City, there is a pharmacist who refuses women the right to emergency contraception, which is a preventative form of birth control.
The State Pharmacy Board for Nevada does not recognize a "conscience clause" for a pharmacist; however, they're not required to fill prescriptions either. This means pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions they believe interfere with their morals, and this allows them to deny emergency contraceptives for victims of rape/incest.
When a woman goes to have a prescription filled, she and her doctor have already chosen a course of treatment. When pharmacists refuse to fill a prescription, they are denying access to medical care, and in this case, possible unintended pregnancy, which could have been avoided. The American Pharmacists' Code of Ethics state that a "pharmacist promotes the right of self-determination and recognizes individual self worth by encouraging patients to participate in decisions about their health."
A pharmacist's refusal to fill a legal prescription creates a serious lack of access to care that could endanger a woman's health or even threaten her life. Moral issues harbored by pharmacists should not interfere in the relationship between physicians and patients and their choice of care.
Legal forms of contraception should be dispensed by health care providers, including pharmacists, without hassle and without judgment. After all, a patient's health is supposed to be uppermost in the conscience of every pharmacist.
