I'm A Little More Than Outraged....

Kelberlau: Just give me my pills
by Katie Kelberlau
Katie Kelberlau
The State Press

One ordinary day last March, Julie Lacey stopped into a CVS pharmacy near her home in a Fort Worth, Texas, suburb. Lacey had been going to this very pharmacy for more than a year to get her birth control prescription filled. To her horror, on this particular day, the pharmacist refused to dispense Lacey's pills because she did not believe in birth control.

Last February, at an Eckerd Drug Store in Denton, Texas, a pharmacist refused to give emergency contraception to a female rape victim. A Madison, Wisc., pharmacist faces possible charges for not only refusing to refill a woman's birth control, but for also refusing to give the prescription slip back to her.

The American Pharmacists' Association's (APA) policy states that pharmacists may refuse to fill prescriptions on moral grounds, but they must make arrangements for the patient to get the pills. Susan Winkler of the APA told USA Today that their policy supports "stepping away, but not obstructing" patients' access to controversial medicines.

Unfortunately, in some cases, "stepping away" is the same as obstructing. Wal-Mart, the low-priced, conservative shopping giant, refuses to carry the morning-after pill. In some cities, Wal-Mart may be the only pharmacy for miles.

With legal protections in place, however, this movement toward pharmaceutical fundamentalism is gaining momentum. Karen Brauer, president of the growing Pharmacists for Life International, says she "refuses to dispense a drug with a significant mechanism to stop human life."

Perhaps someone should let Brauer and others like her in on a little secret. The birth control pill is used for more than just "stopping human life." I have two good friends on the pill who have not had (and are not planning to have) sex.

Generally, the pill reduces cramps, gives women lighter periods, improves acne problems, alleviates premenstrual headaches and depression and protects against unwanted body hair.

More importantly, eight years of pill use reduces risk of endometrial cancer by 80 percent, and 10 years of pill use reduces risk of ovarian cancer by 80 percent. Finally, it provides some protection against ovarian cysts, cancer of the uterus, osteoporosis and pelvic inflammatory disease (which can lead to infertility).

Matt Sande of Pro-Life Wisconsin is leading a petition drive to enact legal protections for pharmacists who do not believe in birth control. Sande told USA Today that he believes pro-life druggists should not have to "become parties to abortion."

I was a vegetarian for a number of years primarily for moral reasons involving my disagreement with factory farming. I also worked at a steakhouse. Had I disagreed with the consumption of meat so strongly that I was unable to provide customers with their dinners, I would have been fired.

There is no difference between these two issues. Just because the pro-life stance is currently en vogue with the government does not make it any different from the belief in vegetarianism. If people's beliefs interfere with their ability to give customers what they need, then it may be time to look for a new line of work.

Individuals in this country have the right to express religion and faith however they desire. Yet it seems religion has become a screen for people to hide; or, a way for certain individuals to circumvent the law or get out of obligations.

For a pharmacist to refuse drugs to a rape victim is abominable. Environmentalists working in a furniture store would be hard-pressed to keep their jobs if they prevented their customers from buying tables made from rainforest woods. By the same token, it should not be OK for pharmacists to insist their customers only use drugs that the employees deem morally acceptable. If dispensing medicines to women offends their sensibilities, then they should not work in public drug stores.

Like Hitler marching on Russia, the war on women's rights has opened a new front. Abortions were just the tip of the iceberg.