A bill was introduced last Wednesday in the N.C. House by state Rep. Jeff Barnhart, R-Cabarrus, to allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control. Titled "The Self-Righteous Pharmacist Empowerment Act of 2005," or something close to that, the law would allow pharmacists to inflict their religious prejudices on anyone, without fear of legal reprisal or recrimination.
This attitude is being spread by Pharmacists for Life, a radical anti-abortion religious group whose extremism doesn't stop with the "morning-after pill": "The group's president, Indiana pharmacist Karen Brauer, said its members believe birth-control pills, along with emergency contraception, are harmful for women and refuse to refer patients with such prescriptions to other pharmacists."
Thomas D'Andrea, chief pharmacist for Medicaid in North Carolina, was found to be listed on the Pharmacists for Life website by the Greensboro News & Record last week.
This is only the beginning, you can bet on it. And it'll take women standing up to this abuse of power to stop it.
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