Bill would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense abortion meds
A New Mexico state legislative committee has added a provision to an antiabortion measure that would allow pharmacists the right to not dispense abortion medication based on personal and religious beliefs.
The bill bans abortions after 20 weeks of gestation. It was recently passed by New Mexico’s House Judiciary Committee, but has not yet been voted upon by the entire state legislature. It is sponsored by state Rep. Yvette Herrell, a Republican from Otero.
Pharmacist sues Walgreens over Plan-B firing
“There’s lots of reasons our organization opposes this bill,” Steve Allen, a lobbyist with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, reportedly told legislators. “But one aspect particularly troubling is the expanded religious exemption.”
Current New Mexico law permits hospitals to refuse to perform abortions based on religious exemptions. However, this recently proposed late term abortion ban stipulates that “any pharmacist or any person under direction of a pharmacist” can refuse to dispense medicine that results in “the termination of a pregnancy.”
“New Mexico is known as the late-term abortion capitol of the nation. … It’s an opportunity to speak for the unborn,” Rep. Herrell said.
State Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said the pharmacist provision included in the bill goes too far. “I think this bill does much more than raise the issues addressed by its supporters. The extent and reach of this is vastly broader than I have heard anyone discuss it at all,” he said.
Egolf contends that the provision would allow a pharmacist to not dispense the morning-after pill to a woman on the first day of her pregnancy.
Dale Tinker, executive director of the New Mexico Pharmacists Association, said pharmacists already have the legal discretion to not dispense medications. “[Our organization] encourages pharmacists to use professional judgment regarding decisions to not fill medications based on appropriate and quality health care,” Tinker said. “Our position is that pharmacists must be allowed to make their own professional judgment call regarding proper dispensing of prescription medications.”
Filed under: General Problems
Where does the patients right to purchase a legal product enter into this? If the NM know it alls actually didn’t let their far right religious fervour get in the way of what individuals want the citizens would be far better off.
“The lawsuit claims that when the first shipment of over-the-counter Plan B arrived at the location where Hall worked, he paid $324 to purchase the entire supply and then disposed of it. He was fired two weeks later.”
This shows the Christian walgreens pharmacist’s lunacy. He bought it out to make it unavailable.
The first amendment protection about protection from establishment of religion does not mean you get to become an impediment to others. Don’t be in a helping profession if your only way to help is after the patient’s actions are sifted through your lens of judgment.
Plan B is not an abortion pill. Plan B is not an abortion pill. Repeat…oh why bother people don’t listen. Idiot lawmakers!
Exactly…even the pro life pharmacists like the one who got fired dont even listen..it’s like they must have diliberately missed the contraceptive lecture that day so they wouldn’t have to hear the truth.
Several people need to go back to school or redo their CE on Plan B. It will not work once there is implantation, so if the woman is pregnant, Plan B is useless. OMG…I’m not going to waste space etc going over what everyone should know by now anyway. Such idiots. As far as Cytotec for elective abortions, PP dispenses that at their offices…at least where I live they do, So are we saying now if the doc orders a few tablets of Cytotec for natural missed miscarriage and the woman chooses not to have the D&C at the hosptial and chooses to have a natural miscarriage at home, then the “I’m against all abortions RPh” will profile her as someone wanting an elective abortion instead of someone tragically losing a baby she badly wanted and SHAME her by refusing to fill her prescription??? Those should fall withing the 20 weeks. As far as late term…I don’t know of any drugs that would be dispensed for a late term. Those would have to be surgical procedure. I knew a colleague who’s baby had no lungs..an obvious fatality at birth who opted to terminate with a late term abortion rather than carry to term and have the fetus suffer a terrible death at birth, Her body would not miscarry duh because lungs werent needed til birth. A terrible decision for her and her family, but these are those cases that IMHO, AND MHO only that are my exceptions (incest, rape, life of the mother or severe/fatal defect of the fetus) And let’s go ahead and ask the legislators about ‘selective reduction” in Multiple pregnacies…let’s call it for what it is….picking and choosing which of the babies in multiple pregancy are going to be born and which are not….where does that fall in their guidelines (in most cases, I’m sure it’s life of the mother), but I also see it in other cases as elective….so what say you NM legislature??? I usually tend to check my own beliefs at the door when I go to work. It’s not my place to push my own beliefs onto my patients. Wait til Assisted Suicide starts moving into more states, then what will they say. Another patient in a non approved state wants what Britany Maynard in Oregon got.