Saturday, April 02, 2005

BREAKING: Illinios governor won't tolerate asshole pharmacists.


And before we get back to Karen Brauer of the group "Wingnut Pharmacists for Fascism", some good news out of Chicago (thanks to Atrios for the link):

Gov. Rod Blagojevich filed an emergency rule Friday requiring pharmacies that sell contraceptives to fill prescriptions for birth control quickly, following recent incidents in which a Chicago pharmacist refused to fill orders for contraceptives because of moral opposition.

"Our regulation says that if a woman goes to a pharmacy with a prescription for birth control, the pharmacy or the pharmacist is not allowed to discriminate or to choose who he sells it to or who he doesn't sell it to," Blagojevich said. "The pharmacy will be expected to accept that prescription and fill it ... No delays. No hassles. No lectures."

Fernando Grillo, head of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, said the emergency rule clarifies an existing requirement.

Note well the reference to the current "regulation" and "existing requirement". In short, at least in Illinois, it's never been a matter of personal choice or moral guidelines on the part of the pharmacist -- you have a job to do and the law requires you to do it. If you can't handle it, find another line of work.

1 comment:

Lynne said...

Thanks for the heads up. I emailed the governor to tell him thanks, even though I don't live in Illinois.
Next, I'm going to send this article to my governor and ask if he will do the same thing.