Some pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills, saying that dispensing the medications violates their personal moral or religious beliefs.
The trend has opened a new front in the nation’s battle over reproductive rights, sparking an intense debate over the competing rights of pharmacists to refuse to participate in something they consider repugnant and a woman’s right to get medications her doctor has prescribed. It has also triggered pitched political battles in statehouses across the nation as politicians seek to pass laws either to protect pharmacists from being penalized — or force them to carry out their duties.
Pharmacists’ Rights at Front Of New Debate
The Church of England has backed the Catholic Church in its bid to be exempt from laws on adoption by gay couples.
Catholic leaders in England and Wales say its teachings prevent its agencies placing children with homosexuals and they will close if bound by the rules.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, have written to Tony Blair.
They say “rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation, however well-meaning”.
The Equality Act, due to come into effect in England, Wales and Scotland in April, outlaws discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services on the basis of sexual orientation.
Churches unite over adoption row
Over the past few years, a growing number of Somali taxi drivers in the Twin Cities have been interpreting Koranic prohibitions on carrying alcohol to include ferrying passengers with alcohol in their bags.
“If you are a cabdriver and a practicing Muslim, you can’t carry alcohol,” said Idris Mohamed, an adjunct professor of strategic management at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. “It would be the same for a practicing Christian trying to honor their beliefs.”
Some Muslim Cabbies Refuse Fares Carrying Alcohol