Modulator

The Pope Advocates Career Change for Catholic Pharmacists

Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that pharmacists have a right to use conscientious objection to avoid dispensing emergency contraception or euthanasia drugs — and told them they should also inform patients of the ethical implications of using such drugs.

Benedict told a gathering of Catholic pharmacists that conscientious objection was a right that must be recognized by the pharmaceutical profession.

Benedict said such status would "enable them not to collaborate directly or indirectly in supplying products that have clearly immoral purposes such as, for example, abortion or euthanasia."

I could not agree more that these folks have a right to conscientious objection to dispensing certain pharmaceuticals and that they should not collaborate in distributing drugs that they consider immoral.

Of course, the only appropriate mechanism for them to exercise this right is to either change profession or work for a pharmaciy that agrees with their views. For instance:

Baldwin pharmacist Lutful Chowdhury thinks Catholicism's leader is dispensing sound advice when he told pharmacists in Rome yesterday to exercise their right to refuse to fill prescriptions of medications that could end a pregnancy, assist in euthanasia or contraception.

"These are moral issues," said Chowdhury, who is Muslim and the owner of Aim Pharmacy. "This is for the betterment of mankind so I agree with the policy."

Chowdhury owns the business and has every right to sell or not sell whatever he wants to agreeable customers and long as no fraud is involved.

You and I have every right to take our business elsewhere.

For those who argue that there needs to be a law, well, no. Whether in the US, Italy or Chile this is an issue that should exist between employer, employee and customers.

Posted by Steve on October 30, 2007