Illinois Pharmacists Won't Be Forced to Dispense Plan B

Illinois agreed this week that pharmacists will no longer be forced to dispense Plan B against their religious convictions.In April 2005, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said the "right of conscience does not apply to pharmacists" and ordered them to distribute the "morning-after pill," a so-called emergency contraceptive that may sometimes cause an early abortion. Several pharmacists lost their jobs after refusing to follow the order.The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed suit against Walgreens, Wal-Mart and Blagojevich on behalf of seven pharmacists who said the governor's edict violated their constitutional and statutory rights.According to the ACLJ, the state now says the order "does not apply to individual pharmacists, and that the state will never apply it to individual pharmacists."The state is working to establish a procedure to accommodate pro-life pharmacists."This is a victory for health-care professionals who want to follow their moral convictions in the workplace," said Dawn Vargo, associate bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family Action."They shouldn't have to check their religious and moral convictions at the door when they go to work."

http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005720.cfm

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