Pharmacist Resists Illinois Rule on Contraceptives (Faux News)

[DemsUnite]

An Illinois pharmacist says he's being pressured by the state to sell a certain kind of oral contraceptive despite his objection to it for moral reasons.

A new rule in Illinois — the first of its kind in the United States — tells pharmacists that if they're in the business of selling contraceptives, they must fill all contraceptive prescriptions, including those for so-called "morning-after" birth-control pills.

Luke Vander Bleek owns four pharmacies in suburban Chicago and is one of several pharmacists suing Gov. Rod Blagojevich over the administrative rule, which was approved by a rule-making panel of the Illinois Legislature last week.

Vander Bleek said he sells regular oral contraceptives, but is not willing to sell the "morning-after" pill known as Plan B.

He considers it tantamount to abortion, since it is taken after sexual intercourse and can prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus.

more

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166426,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166426,00.html

[Larkspur]

1. Then this vigilante pharmacist needs to find another career

or hire another pharmacist who will dispense the Morning After Pill.

[etherealtruth]

3. Exactly ...

No one in this country should be forced into a job/career that they are morally opposed to ... He needs to exercise his rights and find another career!

[noonwitch]

11. He'll be able to get a job in Monahan's planned Florida Community

Ave Maria-a college he's setting up in Florida (there's already one in Ann Arbor, but he can hardly take over such a liberal place as that). Once they open their "contraceptive and condom free" pharmacy, he can apply.

[etherealtruth]

13. My view (like it matters) ...

... is that we need to "work with" insurance companies and demand that if they contract with a pharmacy to be a provider, that pharmacy must carry (I understand obscure drugs may require special orders) and fill EVERY drug that is covered by the insurance company ... PERIOD.

How long would a Monahanesque pharmacy last with NO insurance contracts.

*I was thinking the pharmacist in the OP should consider a change in careers ... perhaps animal husbandry.

[kbm8795]

40. I'm sick and tired of these faux religionists

who have suddenly discovered some "deeply-held" belief that prevents them from doing their damned job!

For one thing, their "deeply-held" beliefs are supposed to apply to their OWN behavior, not everyone else's, and to use their position to push their beliefs is annoying and unethical.

[Betsy Ross]

15. My story with BC pills

So an insurance rep was giving us the talk about what kind of coverage we had. I asked if Rx included BC pills. She said only when prescribed for medical reasons. I responded "of course they are because I'm not married!" She had a puzzeled look.

[Spinzonner]

38. What in the hell is a non-medical reason ?

[yankeeinlouisiana]

42. Birth control, silly.

You don't need to take birth control. If you don't want to get pregnant, just don't have sex.

:eyes:

A medical reason for a woman to take the pill would be to regulate their cycle.

[Spinzonner]

43. If birth control is non-medical then so is treating Erectile Disfunction

since both relate to the sex act or consequences there-of.

[Mike Daniels]

20. Or how about letting the public decide his fate?

Why not let the marketplace decide if this guy should stay in business if he refuses to carry "one" particular form of birth control.

[Beaverhausen]

44. So a rape victim has to go all over town to get emergency contraception

no, he shouldn't be a pharmacist if he won't fill prescriptions. Period.

[kahleefornia]

2. He should be fired immediately.

I'm so tired of this whole thing. Which parts of your job do you get to make a moral judgement about? I feel that morally people deserve 7 lunch breaks, therefore I will stop and eat every half hour. I feel that polyester is a sin, therefore I refuse to sit in my chair.

[DBoon]

4. I work for a defense contractor

a heartfelt opposition to warfare would get me another job very quick.

What makes these pharmacists think they are special?


FYI, I'm in a group that specializes in local government contracts. I leave the spooky stuff to other people.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. I am a teacher

I am not allowed to choose the curriculum or my students.

These pharmacists need to find a new line of work. Do the job or do something else.

[BR_Parkway]

5. Fire the owner of 4 pharmacies? Seems like he should just sell

them if he no longer wants to abide by the rules.

Hell, morally, I think charging people so much money for prescriptions is wrong, so I don't own a pharmacy.

[Sgent]

17. He owns the pharmacy

Actually 4 of them.

His other option (according to state regulation) is to stop carrying BC pills. Then he won't have to sell Plan B.

[northzax]

24. and condoms

just out of curiosity, since I've never asked anyone, what happens to fertility if you stop taking the Pill in the middle of a cycle, say, right after sex? are you fertile or not? isn't this the exact same thing as not stopping your pill cycle?

i hate idiots.

[kahleefornia]

39. I think you're pretty much not fertile

As long as you're taking them, the whole works are on "pause". Stop taking the pill, and it can take months for everything to return to normal. I highly doubt you could get pregnant the next day, though it probably is theoretically possible.

[Heddi]

41. Maybe not the next day, but relatively soon

It really depends on the type of pill a woman is taking (strength), and how long she's been on the pill, and what her ovulatory cycle is. I have known women who have stopped taking the pill and literally within 2 weeks got pregnant.

I've also known women who took the pill and were able to have unprotected sex for months before pregnancy occured.

it depends on the woman, but it's not a safe idea to stop pills at once in the middle of a cycle and not use backup methods of contraception if pregnancy isn't desired.

Hell--even Antibiotics taken with oral contraceptives can decrease their absorption rate (of the pills) and so any woman on OC's and taking antibiotics needs to use backup methods of contraception until the use of antibiotics is ceased, and for a few weeks afterwards to ensure that the pill has gotten back on the 'right level' in the body to provide a certain level of contraceptive protection.

[Kool Kitty]

47. Yep. I was taking the pill and when I stopped,

I was pregnant the next month.

[northzax]

48. thanks, I just know women

who have been told that if they miss two pills in a row, that other protection is needed, it probably depends on where you are in the cycle, and that it's not something you really want to mess around with, so you double protect if there's a potentially higher risk.

[napi21]

25. He can't be fired. He OWNS the darn pharmacys.

I agree with the poster who said, let the public decide. If he looses a lot of business because of his policies, he'll either change his mind or he'll go out of business.

[librechik]

35. if he breaks the new law, he should be punished

Let him continue in business and pay the fines. It's cheaper than fighting it in court. And he gets to express his moral beliefs--which beliefs, by the way, are recognized by the state as illegal and harmful.

Unless he is being promoted by the usual suspects and this winds up as a lab case for the Supreme Court. (naw, I'm sure he is not being "used" by some "special interests," right?)

[mondo joe]

36. His pharmacy license should be revoked.

He can't be fired - he's the owner.

Revoke the state license.

[Mairead]

37. I think he owns the pharms...hard to fire him (nt)

[Beaverhausen]

45. Right, and morally I'm entitled to 5 weeks of vacation a year

[Mithras61]

6. Such a simple rule...

and such twisted logic to oppose "Plan B."

It's really simple... either sell ALL types of contraceptives, or sell NONE. Why is that so hard?

By the way, it's my understanding that contraceptive pills (like Ortho-Novum) work by convincing a woman's body that she's already pregnant and thereby preventing the implantation of another fertilized egg...

[bleedingheart]

7. This is where the kooks are going to scare the "centrists"

you see the middle of the road centrists, who use birth control and who enjoy sex..(shhhhh it is a secret)...will start to get worried about the freaks who want to control their lives....

[mom cat]

8. I hope that women boycott him into oblivian...after the new

bankrupts law takes effect!

[Bassic]

9. Ah Christ I hope the idiot loses in court.

[truebrit71]

10. Shut up you fundie nutcase and do your fucking job!!!

These assholes that object on "moral" grounds are nothing more than closet nazis...

What's next? Will you "morally" object to selling condoms? How about drugs prescribed to those with HIV or AIDS?

DO YOUR FUCKING JOB OR DO SOMETHING ELSE!!!!

[saigon68]

18. Another Hateful Right Wing Nut-Job

So many idiots running around out there

[rurallib]

12. They ought to be taking away Pharmacy licenses for this (nt)

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Sounds like he is in the wrong business then

Surely there are fast food joints in his community that are hiring.

[toopers]

19. Since he is taking the moral "high road" . . .

why is he selling contraceptives at all. Everyone knows you should not have sex unless you are trying to conceive a child! I wonder if he even requires a marriage license for the contraceptives he does sell. What a friggin' hypocrite!

[Endangered Specie]

23. Well hell, if someone gets a disease, its because God

is trying to punish him, why is he trying to stand in the way of Gods work? :sarcasm:

[genieroze]

21. Hey jack-off, if you don't like it sell your pharmacy.

[Endangered Specie]

22. Ah huh, but he has absolutely no problem selling tons of dick pills?

oh irony, where art thou.

[durablend]

26. Gotta make sure "Bob" remains the envy of the neighborhood

[rocktivity]

27. Pharmacist Should Lose License, Then (Rocknation)

:headbang:
rocknation

[slay]

28. I totally agree

If he won't DO HIS JOB - he should be fired. Period.

[delen]

29. Personally

I think Pharmacists should be able to fill or not what ever they please with a few caveats.-

They must have a large sign outside posting what drugs they will and won't fill prescriptions for and what other area pharmacy will fill those prescriptions, if there are no other area pharmacies a website where those prescriptions can be filled, and in the case of say drugs such as AZT they can be held liable for any harm to the patient, in the case of planB doctors should supply that in their office.

[mitchum]

30. Time for a career change for this fanatical ass

[dsc]

31. If there are lots of owners of pharmacies who don't wish to

dispense plan B but do wish to sell birth control, this law could really backfire. I have continually tried to warn people that these laws could be problematic. What if these owners decide to stop selling birth control at all inorder not to sell plan B? Where would we be then? I think we are vastly better off leting the market place solves this problem.

[Danieljay]

32. Lloyd Center Pharmacy Portland Oregon refused my gf

Plan B after a, lets just say, birth control malfunction. Shes a doctor and they refused to fill the script. The pharmacist actually put his hand on hers, looked her straight in the eye, and said "oh ....I'm so sorry".

She felt totally patronized and she was PISSED.

[LincolnMcGrath]

33. This Chowder Head filed in my old home county.

Here is a link from June when he filed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1539483&mesg_id=1540311

[hangtotheLEFT]

34. THESE ACTIVIST PHARMACISTS......

...must be stopped from legislating from the pharmacy counter!

MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS, ASSHOLES!

[depakid]

46. He needs to be disciplined by his licensure committee

Because not only is he breaching ethical standards, but HE IS LYING about how the pill works:

See: Plan B Ignore the Science

Of course- FOX "News" will peddle any lie and distortion, but one would hope that the Illinois Board of Pharmacy would take a different approach.