Medical Professionals and Members of Wisconsin's Pro-Choice Majority to Oppose Pharmacist "Conscience Clause"
During a hearing on Wednesday morning before the Wisconsin Senate’s Labor, Small Business Development and Consumer Affairs committee, pro-choice citizens, including members of the medical community, will gather to oppose Senate Bill 21, commonly referred to as the pharmacist “conscience clause.”
This measure seeks to permit pharmacists to refuse to dispense medications they believe to cause abortions. However, the broad language of this bill is specifically crafted to permit pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for contraception and emergency contraception. Contraception and emergency contraception prevent pregnancy – neither terminates an established pregnancy. The measure, however, requires only that pharmacists believe a drug to be abortion-inducing; therefore, they can refuse to fill a prescription for contraception or emergency contraception even though a belief that these drugs cause abortion is medically inaccurate. Notes Deborah Lukovich, Executive Director of NARAL Wisconsin, “We must not prioritize the personal beliefs of pharmacists, especially medically inaccurate beliefs, over the reproductive health care needs of Wisconsin’s women. Pharmacists have a professional responsibility to dispense prescribed drugs and must not interfere with the medical judgment of physicians.”
Additionally, Senate Bill 21 includes no protections for women seeking to fill prescriptions. Absent from this measure is any assurance that patients will receive referrals and therefore be able to access needed drugs in a timely fashion. Additionally, pharmacies are not required to notify clients if their pharmacists are unwilling to fill some prescriptions. Deborah Lukovich continues, “This measure is a transparent attempt to deny women access to contraception and emergency contraception and is particularly threatening to countless women in rural parts of our state who may only have one pharmacy within a reasonable distance from their homes. All women have a right to contraception and emergency contraception and this bill seeks to violate that right.”
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