Law Commons^™

Conscientious Objection And Pharmacists' Professional Obligation To Ensure Access To Legitimately Prescribed Medication, Andrea N. Lee

Andrea N Lee

This paper discusses legal issues surrounding pharmacists who refuse to dispense emergency contraception based on their religious views. One study reports up to thirty-one percent of pharmacists admit to not dispensing emergency contraception based on their moral or religious beliefs, leading to women’s limited access to a second chance to prevent pregnancy when their regular preventative method fails. Without a limitation on when pharmacists can deny patients access to legitimately prescribed medication, women’s fundamental right to choose whether to bear a child is no longer her choice, but her pharmacist’s choice. Legislatures must require pharmacists to act in their patient’s, …