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Pharmacist Gene Herr’s decision to not fill a rape victim’s morning-after pill prescription raises moral and legal questions. Should pharmacists be allow to follow religious and moral convictions when filling precriptions?

bq.. DENTON – A rape victim, wanting to guard against an unwanted pregnancy, tried to fill a prescription for the so-called morning-after contraceptive pill at an Eckerd pharmacy.

But in a decision that cost him his job, pharmacist Gene Herr, citing religious convictions, turned her away.

Herr’s decision and Eckerd’s response angered people on both sides of the abortion debate, reigniting a discussion over whether pharmacists should be able to follow their religious and moral beliefs when dispensing drugs.

“I don’t think it’s fair that I be forced to participate in a chain of events that results in the taking of a life,” Herr said. “I feel like what Eckerd wanted me to do, they were forcing me to do something that I see is wrong.”

But Eckerd spokeswoman Joan Gallagher said the company’s employment manual makes it clear that pharmacists are never allowed to decline to fill a prescription for moral or religious reasons.

p. [ Full Story @ The Houston Chronicle ]

p. Source: The Houston Chronicle © 2004 The Houston Chronicle

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