This is a blog for the Mental Health Policy Class at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

March 20, 2008

Should Pharmacists be Required to Fill Prescriptions for Emergency Contraception?

Pharmacists asked the Illinois Supreme Court Tuesday to overturn a rule forcing them to dispense emergency contraception over their religious convictions. Gov. Rod Blagojevich's three-year-old edict requires pharmacists to fill orders for the so-called "morning-after pill." Taken within days of having sex, the pill can interfere with conception, which some pharmacists argue is the equivalent of abortion. . . . When Blagojevich introduced the rule, he said pharmacists had an obligation to fill all prescriptions despite any personal qualms. Someone in need of emergency contraception should always be able to get it, "No delays. No hassles. No lectures," he said then.

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