Progress Pond

Battleground MN? Pharmacists refusing to dispense Birth Control

(Cross posted at Dkos)
From the Star Tribune this am. http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5381763.html
Subscription required so here is the jist of the article.  

Rebecca Polzin walked into a drugstore in Glencoe, Minn., last month to fill a prescription for birth control. A routine request. Or so she thought.

Minutes later, Polzin left furious and empty-handed. She said the pharmacist on duty refused to help her. “She kept repeating the same line: ‘I won’t fill it for moral reasons,’ ” Polzin said.

Earlier this year, Adriane Gilbert called a pharmacy in Richfield to ask if her birth-control prescription was ready. She said the person who answered told her to go elsewhere because he was opposed to contraception. “I was shocked,” Gilbert said. “I had no idea what to do.”

Five years ago, we didn’t have evidence of this, and we would have been dumbfounded to see it,” said Sarah Stoesz, president of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. “We’re not dumbfounded now. We’re very concerned about what’s happening.”

But M. Casey Mattox of the Center for Law and Religious Freedom said it is far more disturbing to see pharmacists under fire for their religious beliefs than it is to have women inconvenienced by taking their prescription to another drugstore. He also said that laws have long shielded doctors opposed to abortion from having to take part in the procedure.

“The principle here is precisely the same,” Mattox said

Apparently this happened in Illinios last month and the Governor had to file an order that would force pharmacists to fill the prescription regardless.

“No delays. No hassles. No lectures,” Blagojevich said.

But several pharmacists, backed by Christian legal groups, have filed lawsuits to overturn the governor’s order, which they say violates state law. Other pharmacists are vowing to ignore the governor’s requirement.

I cant beleive this is happening in Minnesota. I always thought that we lived in a fairly liberal state. Its amazing how long the arm of the Religious right is and scary the things that they are willing to force on others.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Exit mobile version