An issue to watch

Pharmicists are coming under fire for refusing to fill prescriptions for the “morning after” pill. It is a matter of conscience. While ordinary birth control pills prevent ovulation, the morning after pill prevents implantation of a created embryo and may therefore be considered – literally – an easy abortion.

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich has ordered that pharmicists must fill the orders regardless of their personal feelings.

This is going to be an issue to watch; it’s going to be big. Once again, we see this insistance that Death trumps all, that what the Culture of Death wants overrides any and all concerns about liberty, freedom of expression and personal conscience.

This governor would not for a moment insist that a Kosher or Muslim butcher provide pork to anyone who asks. He would not demand that the owner of a vegan restaurant serve up a big old steak because someone wants it. He would not tell a newspaper what it had to print. But he’ll tell a pharmicist what he has to stock and supply.

Abortion rights advocates and most physicians say the pill, unlike the French drug RU-486, is not an abortion drug because it does not destroy an embryo. Instead, the pill prevents ovulation or fertilization, or blocks a fertilized egg from becoming implanted in the uterus.

Proponents feel it is critical for many pharmacists to offer the morning-after pill because women have only a small window of time after sex in which to obtain and use it. The pill is effective up to three to five days after intercourse, and it is most effective when taken immediately.

Advocates also argue that the pill will lead to fewer abortions.

No…they’ll lead to MORE abortions…just not as messy and with less wear and tear on the body and the conscience.

…many abortion opponents believe the morning-after pill ends a human life and is therefore tantamount to abortion.

“Emergency contraceptive pills can be abortifacient if they are taken after ovulation has occurred,” Dr. Gertrude Murphy, a retired physician who worked at a Catholic hospital in Boston and is currently on the board of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, testified at the hearing. “An abortifacient is defined here as any medication or device that causes the death of the developing human after fertilization.”