Judge Rules Against Pharmacy Mandate on Birth Control

Posted by Tina

Resistance to federal government healthcare mandates continues to grow as a judge in the state of Washington piles on:

Reuters

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Washington state cannot require pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives if to do so violates their religious beliefs.

U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton declared the state regulation unconstitutional because it trampled on pharmacists’ right to “conscientious objection.”

The ruling only applies to Washington state but is sure to reverberate nationally, as it comes in the midst of a roiling political debate about a new federal regulation mandating that all health insurance plans – even those sponsored by religious employers – provide free birth control.

Don’t know that it will stand, I’m sure there will be legal objections, but every win for freedom is still worth noting.

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10 Responses to Judge Rules Against Pharmacy Mandate on Birth Control

  1. Post Scripts says:

    Well, well, well…whattaya got to say now Chris?

  2. Peggy says:

    This video may shock some and clarify for the rest of us the basis on which Obamas agenda is founded.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=tCAffMSWSzY#t=28

  3. Chris says:

    Jack, I’d say that this is a separate but related question to whether or not employers can deny contraception coverage to their employees. While I’m not sure I agree with the judge’s ruling in this case, I also think that an employer denying coverage creates a bit more of a hardship to a person than a pharmacist refusing to fill a prescription. It’s probably easier for most people to find another pharmacist than it is to find another job.

    I also think that someone who objects to dispensing emergency contraceptives probably shouldn’t become a pharmacist in the first place.

    Peggy, I was unaware that Muslims believed so strongly in providing easy access to contraception for women! Doesn’t really fit with what some other Republicans have told me about that faith, but thanks for defying the stereotype. Is the commandment for women to have free contraception in their healthcare plans actually in the Koran? Or is it one of the lesser known hadiths?

    Wait, I found it: “And the woman shall be governess of her own body, and damned are those who try to impose their wills upon her. Also, Planned Parenthood rocks!” –The Prophet Mohammed, Peace be Upon Him

  4. Tina says:

    Chris: “I also think that someone who objects to dispensing emergency contraceptives probably shouldn’t become a pharmacist in the first place.”

    I’m astounded at how you think. A pharmacist is not allowed to have an opinion or personal religious belief and if he has one that you find unreasonable he shouldn’t have that profession? Do you get how dictatorial your thought process is?

    This is a very adolescent way of thinking…and very liberal progressive. It lacks even a basic level of responsibility.

  5. Chris says:

    Tina, prescribing contraception is a routine aspect of being a pharmacist. If I know that I will have sincere moral objections to routine aspects of a certain job, then I am going to do the smart thing and not take that job in the first place. That’s not “dictatorial,” that’s common sense.

  6. Tina says:

    That would be your common sense choice, Chris. Please allow others to arrange their lives and make the choices they prefer to make. If they can find a job that allows them to abstain from filling contraceptive prescriptions what business is it of yours? In fact what business is it of your anyway. If a woman finds herself in a situation where the only pharmicist in a very small town has this view then she will need to talk with the man to see what they can arrange.

    In truth this is just another tempest in a teapot…brought to us by the fanatics in your party who use it to make dedicated Christians out to be nuts. There are probably no more than a handful of people in this situation. Most women who might be affected are likely to have other options at their disposal.

    My opinion stands. This is dictatorial thinking.

  7. Libby says:

    Yes, but the federal judge did not say that Walgreen’s could not fire the pharmacist for failing to perform his job duties.

    You wanna be a Christian Scientist, you don’t take up pharmacy for a profession.

    Hell, any pharmacist, proficient in his profession, probably thinks to himself six times a day: “You know, you really shouldn’t take that.” But the prescription is a matter between the patient and her physician, and none of his business, and he keeps his mouth professionally shut.

  8. Tina says:

    Good points Libby but at the same time if a pharmicist has arranged with his employer for others to dispense birth control and excuse him from the task it’s none of our business.

  9. Libby says:

    I don’t think Walgreen’s does that.

  10. Peggy says:

    The people of New York are letting their democratic rep. they don’t like that she supports Obama’s birth control mandate.

    Kathy why have you betrayed our Catholic institutions? One woman in the crowd told Hochul: This President has lied to us repeatedly when he proclaims support for conscience protection in his infamous speech at Notre Dame as well as in the executive order he signed following passage of the health care law. He is not worthy of your support in this matter. Another man shouted Its an insult to the Catholics in this country to even listen to that gibberish. It is an absolute insult and Catholics deserve better. We were taking care of this countrys sick long before the government got involved in it.

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/dem-congresswoman-booed-at-town-hall-for-supporting-obamas-contraception-plan/

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