{"id":3972,"date":"2005-04-14T13:33:05","date_gmt":"2005-04-14T17:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/3972.html"},"modified":"2005-04-14T13:33:05","modified_gmt":"2005-04-14T17:33:05","slug":"talk-about-your-frivolous-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/talk-about-your-frivolous-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Talk about your ‘frivolous’ lawsuits…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four states have laws that allow pharmacists to withhold medication to patients with a prescription, if the pharmacist has a moral objection. Eleven states are considering similar initiatives<\/a>. One report indicated there have been 180 instances<\/a> in which pharmacies have refused to fill prescriptions on “moral” grounds in just six months. It was refreshing, therefore, when Illinois bucked the trend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D) issued an emergency rule Friday that requires pharmacies to accept and fill prescriptions for contraceptives without delay, after a growing number of complaints nationwide that some pharmacists are refusing to dispense birth control pills and the “morning-after” pill. <\/p>\n

He also established a toll-free number that residents can call to report refusals by pharmacies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was particularly relevant in Illinois after an Osco pharmacy in downtown Chicago refused to fill prescriptions for two women in February. There was some question about the need for the law, but the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said the new rule “clarifies a duty we believe has always existed.”<\/p>\n

So, how is the religious right responding? How else? They’re suing Blagojevich<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a legal group started by TV preacher Pat Robertson, announced yesterday<\/a> that it had filed suit in state court on behalf of two pharmacists who insist the law — which requires them to do their jobs — requires them to act against their consciences and violates the Civil Rights Act.<\/p>\n

“This directive is not only legally flawed but it puts pharmacists in the untenable position of having to choose between adhering to their religious beliefs and violating a law that could cost them their jobs,” said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which is representing the two pharmacists. “There are protections in place to prevent employees from being punished because of their religious beliefs.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I still don’t understand why this is even a controversy. If a pharmacist realizes that he or she may be called on to perform tasks with which they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re uncomfortable, this person has a choice: do the job or find a different job in which these moral quandaries won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be an issue. If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like filling prescriptions, then don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t become a pharmacist<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I’m actually glad the ACLJ is suing; when they lose the precedent might be helpful. Too bad it’s not in federal court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four states have laws that allow pharmacists to withhold medication to patients with a prescription, if the pharmacist has a moral objection. Eleven states are considering similar initiatives. One report indicated there have been 180 instances in which pharmacies have refused to fill prescriptions on “moral” grounds in just six months. It was refreshing, therefore, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}