Open Thread

March 26, 2008 By Guest Contributor 10 Comments

I’m catching up on some work for the rest of the night.

Consider this an open thread… or, if you haven’t seen it yet, check out the Forum!

(Be nice!)


[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]

Filed Under: General 10 Comments
  • Ron in Houston

    I’ll throw out a topic. Should a pharmacist be able to refuse to refill a prescription because of their faith?

    I say that if you duty as a professional conflicts with your faith, then you need to choose another occupation or put yourself in a position where you don’t have a conflict. In other words if you own your personal private pharmacy, then you can refuse. However, if you choose to work for Walgreen or CVS, you’re left with a choice.

  • Milena

    I have to agree with you, Ron. The pharmacist is perfectly within his or her own right to not take the prescription for themselves, but to deny it to another person is denying that person their rights.

    In Canada, we have our own sets of problems with doctors refusing pap smears on religious/moral grounds. I guess they figure that if you’re one of them loose women who actually need regular pap smears, you deserve HPV. :roll:

  • Claire

    This isn’t about religious rights – it’s about people refusing to do their job and fulfill the requirements of their profession. There shouldn’t be any protection for that.

    Any pharmacist who refuses to refill any prescription for any reason* should have his license revoked, permanently. He or she simply does not have the right to interfere between patient and doctor, especially when you take into account that the pharmacist does not have all the information. It’s the height of irresponsibility.

    Birth control pills are prescribed for any number of reasons, beyond contraception. There are times when the federal law even requires that a woman must use contraception, such as when she has been prescribed isotretinoin for severe acne. Does a pharmacist have the right to refuse to let her have her acne treated?

    Prescriptions do not have diagnoses on them, and the pharmacist doesn’t know why a drug is prescribed. He’s guessing, unless he asks the patient, and he has no right to ask. And in the end, it’s absolutely none of his damn business, ever.

    It’s not like it comes as a surprise to these people – every single pharmacist out there knew dispensing birth control pills or other forms of contraception would be part of his job before he ever went in the field. If he had a problem, he should have found another profession. If his ‘scruples’ develop later, he should stop his whinging and find another job then.

    They’ve filled those prescriptions for years with no problem, why the sudden change? Because the religious right has begun encouraging them to think they think they can get away with it. Their ‘religious objections’ are nothing more than a thinly-disguised way for them to control someone else’s choices and it’s reprehensible.

    * footnote to “for any reason”: This is leaving aside those reasons that can be corrected with a phone call to the doctor, such as a possible forgery or a deadly combination with another drug the patient is taking.

  • Jen

    Anyone else having trouble registering on the forums? I created a username (“Jen”) and put in my email and I never have recieved an email letting me click the link to start the account. Further, I can’t create a new Jen account because it is already in use (me, as near as I can tell) but it won’t email me a password either. Weirdly enough, it has also been ages since I have gotten a followup comment via email, too.

    Any pharmacist standing between me and my birth control better be prepared to suffer. I don’t throw fits, as a general rule, but you better believe I would grab the nearest intercom phone and page every single one of the managers in the store while pointing out the sexist bastard behind the counter needs to follow the law in my state.

  • http://friendlyatheist.com Hemant Mehta

    Anyone else having trouble registering on the forums?

    Jen — We’ll get this taken care of!

  • http://www.chickengirl.net/ Chicken Girl

    * footnote to “for any reason”: This is leaving aside those reasons that can be corrected with a phone call to the doctor, such as a possible forgery or a deadly combination with another drug the patient is taking.

    <anti-choice idiot> But birth control pills are deadly to BAYBEES! They’re chemical abortions! I shouldn’t be required to dispense pills that are deadly to BAYBEES! And any doctor who prescribes them is just WRONG!! </anti-choice idiot>

  • http://ozatheist.wordpress.com OzAtheist

    Here’s another topic:
    Mercy Ministries - or how not to treat people with psychological disorders.

    Recently in Aus, the media broke the news of how Mercy Ministries treats young women with psychological disorders by using forced prayer sessions and exorcisms. This is one of the stories.

    Mercy Ministries is linked to Hillsong church and Gloria Jean’s (GJ) coffee (at least in Aus) but both Hillsong and GJ have tried to deny this.

    Several of us have been following this story but Sean has the most information and links on his site. Sean is now trying to get any ex-Mercy women to tell him their story.

    From the few stories out so far it appears the Mercy treat their charges fairly bad. Please help, review Sean’s blog and spread the message.

    I’d also be interested to hear if Mercy in America also uses such bad methods of treatment on young women who are very vulnerable.

  • Darryl

    My gut reaction to Pharmacists that refuse to fill these prescriptions is negative, for the reasons that others have given. But, if I try to put myself in their place, I think I can understand how they feel, and understanding that I think that if you’re willing to take a stand on abortion and what you believe to be a moral issue you have the right to do so; and you also have the right to be fired, and you have the right to have your workplace performance record sent to any other Pharmacy to which you might apply for a job. I wonder how many Pharmacies want a reputation as one that will not fill all prescriptions?

  • Darryl

    Parents don’t seek treatment for a sick daughter, they pray for her, and unbelievably, she dies.

    http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gy_FocuLcPyslOqVeaOFan8yo7eQD8VLUSO01

  • Darryl

    Gay Scientists Isolate Christianity Gene:

    http://www.slatev.com/blog.html