Pharmacist v. Patient in "Morning-after" Refusal

[GalvestonDuck]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... _protest_1

Protesters Gather Outside Texas Pharmacy
Mon Feb 2,11:52 PM ET

DENTON, Texas - About 40 people gathered outside an Eckerd pharmacy Monday, protesting what they said was a decision to deny a rape victim a prescription for the morning-after pill.

A spokesman for the Florida-based company confirmed that Eckerd has taken disciplinary action in response to an incident at the store.

"Apparently there was a request for a prescription to be filled and the prescription was denied based on a moral or ethical decision made by the pharmacist, and that's not in accordance with our corporate policy," said Joan Gallagher, vice president of communications for Largo, Fla.-based Eckerd Corp.

Gallagher told the Denton Record-Chronicle that she could provide no other details.

The protesters carried signs. Some stood silently and others chanted slogans.

Morning-after pills have been sold under the brand names Plan B and Preven since 1998. Taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse, the hormone pills are at least 75 percent effective at preventing pregnancy.

An unidentified friend of the woman seeking the prescription told the newspaper she got the drug from a neighboring pharmacy.

Gay Dodson, executive director of the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, said state law allows pharmacists to decline filling prescriptions if the medication could harm the patient.

"The law does not say that the pharmacy can decline because of moral ground," she said.

[DaylilyDawn]

The pharmacist cost the store business that could have resulted in repeat business for the store. The pharmacist should not pushed his moral beliefs onto what may have been a victim of a violent crime and who did not want a reminder of it 9 months after the crime.
My response to his boss would be "Fire the Stupid Guy"

[j]

I applaud the pharmacist for his moral convictions, and he might just have an argument in court. Since the law clearly states: pharmacists may decline filling prescriptions if the medication could harm the patient. An argument could clearly be made that the baby in the womb is an extension of the patient, unfortuantely unable to plead, "No thank you, I don't wish to die today".

Unfortunately, that baby will still be killed....it will just have another day to grow.

However...all this being said, a Pharmacist or potential pharmacist should not enter this profession with the convictions that he holds. He is just asking for a miserable life aiding in the genocide of infants.

[GalvestonDuck]

I'm wondering how long after the rape was it before she went to get the prescription? If it was under 48 hours, the argument could be made that conception had not been achieved yet. If there was no zygote union, then there was no fetus so it would have been the same effect as traditional contraceptive measures.

I'm against the pill anyway, but I can understand the other side's argument to a degree. They can claim it was not an abortion.

[blizzard]

I applaud the pharmacist for his moral convictions, and he might just have an argument in court. Since the law clearly states: pharmacists may decline filling prescriptions if the medication could harm the patient. An argument could clearly be made that the baby in the womb is an extension of the patient, unfortuantely unable to plead, "No thank you, I don't wish to die today".

Unfortunately, that baby will still be killed....it will just have another day to grow.

However...all this being said, a Pharmacist or potential pharmacist should not enter this profession with the convictions that he holds. He is just asking for a miserable life aiding in the genocide of infants.

I'm not usually for abortion, but in the case of rape, I am. The pharmacist was WRONG. If the prescription was given to the woman by a Doctor, it should have been filled, period.

[JQ Public]

I'd rather her take the morning after pill than have a baby that she not only doesn't want, but probably isn't financially ready for. Don't tell me its her fault she got pregnant

[GalvestonDuck]

I'd rather her take the morning after pill than have a baby that she not only doesn't want, but probably isn't financially ready for. Don't tell me its her fault she got pregnant

She may not want it or be financially ready for it, but another family who can't have babies might be.

[JQ Public]

There are so many babies already in the adoption/foster care programs in America...why do parent always have to adopt new borns.

[GalvestonDuck]

No one is saying they have to adopt newborns, but the babies shouldn't be murdered because the birth mother doesn't want them and the foster care system is overpopulated. Thinning out the breed is one thing when you're hunting deer. It's a whole other ball of wax when you're talking about taking a human life.

[j]

Thinning out the breed is one thing when you're hunting deer. It's a whole other ball of wax when you're talking about taking a human life.

Wow GD.....I must say I'm impressed.

[GalvestonDuck]

LOL! Why? I've never hidden the fact that I'm anti-abortion.

[Rainband]

LOL! Why? I've never hidden the fact that I'm anti-abortion.

She was raped...I understand the argument against her getting an abortion, I am not saying I agree or disagree with it,but don't her rights matter. Who knows the mental trauma she would go through giving birth to a baby born of rape I think the pharmacist should be fired.

[j]

LOL! Why? I've never hidden the fact that I'm anti-abortion.

I know....I was impressed with your "thinning out the breed" comment.

[j]

I'm one of the strongest anti-abortion people you might ever know, however...I reserve a tiny little waiver for the victims of rape and incest.

Now that isn't to say I support the aborting of these babies. I do not. But.. I'm compassionate enough and respectfull enough for the victims of henious crimes, that after EVERY possible alternative has been counseled to these victims, that they have that last resort option to abort.

I consider the "morning after" pill to be an all too convenient way to kill babies. With this pill, there is NO counseling, there is NO chance for that baby to live. This is the text book definition of "Abortion on Demand".

[GalvestonDuck]

Agreed, J.

Furthermore, who's to say she had conceived a baby anyway? Why traumatize herself further with the memory burned into her brain that she killed a baby, when no one REALLY knows if she was pregnant in the first place. That pill can't be taken a week or a month or longer after conception. It's only prescribed to be taken during the first 72 hours after intercourse (thus the name "the morning after" pill). However, 72 hours is too soon for a urine or blood HCG test to accurately confirm positive conception. The HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin -- a hormone) increases during the term of the pregnancy.

Part of the problem lies in the confusion of terms. Many of us on the pro-life side define "life" as beginning from the moment of conception, when the sperm fertilizes the egg. We also tend to define the beginning of pregnancy as the moment of conception. However, medically, a positive "pregnancy" is when the embryo implants itself in the uterus, which usually doesn't happen for another week after conception.

So, my point is -- why couldn't she wait for a couple of weeks and then determine if her attacker also impregnated her? If he did, she could then make decisions about keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption. If he didn't, then she would only have to cope with the trauma of the actual rape. She wouldn't also have to cope with the abortion, if for some God-awful reason, that is what she decided to do.

It seems to me that dealing with the mental trauma of giving birth to a baby that was the result of a rape would be less anguishing than the mental trauma of aborting a baby that was the result of a rape.

[Guest]

I don't agree with the morning after pill. Why can't it be administered by the doctor after its determined she is really pregnant.

[GalvestonDuck]

I don't agree with the morning after pill. Why can't it be administered by the doctor after its determined she is really pregnant.

Because it wouldn't work. It prevents the embryo from implanting itself in the uterus. Once she's actually pregnant (by the medical definition), the pill wouldn't do anything. The pill is actually a stronger form and higher dose of the estrogen and progesterone found in regular birth control pills.

[Guest]

Okay - my lack of knowledge on this .... how do they get a prescription? Or do they just go to the pharmacy and ask for the pills?

[GalvestonDuck]

I don't really know much more than you. Just what I picked up working in the ER and then read about as a pro-lifer.

It has to be prescribed, and usually it's the doctor who does the rape exam who prescribes it. Just like with regular birth control pills, you can't get them without a prescription. And you can't take a handful of regular ones in an attempt to get the same result as the "morning after" pill. There are too many chemical and physiological changes in the body and too many possible side effects.

I can't imagine taking either. But then again, I'm pro-life, Catholic, and...um...not likely to get pregnant.

[Guest]

Now Duck - publically there have been numerous gay women who have gotten pregnant by artifical means and had babies with their partners. Never say never.