Druggists Refuse to Give Out Birth-Control Pills

You've heard of "activist judges"--how about activist pharmacists? The American Pharmacists Association's policy seems reasonable: Druggists can refuse to fill a prescription, but they must make other arrangements so patients can still get their pills. Yet some pharmacists have refused to hand the prescription to another druggist.

States from Rhode Island to Washington have proposed laws that would protect such decisions. Mississippi now allows health care providers, including pharmacists, to not participate in procedures that go against their conscience. South Dakota and Arkansas have laws that protect a pharmacist's right to refuse to dispense medicines. Ten other states considered similar bills this year.

In Madison, Wis., a pharmacist faces possible disciplinary action by the state pharmacy board for refusing to transfer a woman's prescription for birth-control pills to another druggist or to give the slip back to her. He would not refill it because of his religious views.

Some advocates for women's reproductive rights are worried that such actions by pharmacists and legislatures are gaining momentum.

"We have always understood that the battles about abortion were just the tip of a larger ideological iceberg, and that it's really birth control that they're after also," says Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood.

The story is in USA Today.