For the past several days I have been seeing and hearing a Gerry Connolly campaign commercial that paints Candidate Keith Fimian as an extremist. Most campaign ads are background noise to me so it went in one ear and out the other. Besides, most campaign ads are full of hyperbole and exaggeration. Then I perked up my ears. The ad said that Fimian supported the rights of pharmacists to not dispense contraception. Now THAT IS extremist.
I have tried researching this allegation, without much luck. I even went to the Legatuswebsite. Fimian is a member of Legatus, which is a Catholic organization, founded by Dominos Pizza Magnet Tom Monaghan for very wealthy Catholic business folks and their spouses. I didn’t find out much there either. Maybe it’s me. However, I haven’t heard anything which disputes this claim. This makes me nervous.
There has been somewhat of an uproar the past several years about pharmacists with religious objections being forced to dispense contraception, in particular, the morning after pill. NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia has this to say:
In addition to lack of contraceptive equity, Virginia’s so-called “conscience clause” allows pharmacists to decide which prescriptions they will and will not provide. This means that a pharmacist could legally refuse to fill a doctor’s prescription for birth control or stock or distribute emergency contraception. Since when do pharmacists get to step inside the doctor-patient relationship and refuse to fill necessary prescriptions?
Conscience Clause? Where did that come from? Someone slipped that one by me. The more I google, the more I unearth and the angrier I get. This thread needs to be a work in progress. First of all, anyone who has knowledge of Fimian’s position on allowing pharmacists to cherry pick what prescriptions they will fill, please let us know. I don’t have a bone to pick with private pharmacies who post, in clear view on their door that they do not sell or dispense contraception. However, other stores open to the public without disclaimers should really not be involved in type of exclusionary behavior. I consider it equivalent to the Muslim cab driver who wouldn’t let bottles of liquor in his cab. Find another job.
Secondly, what kinds of legislation have been passed that allow ‘conscience clauses and require pharmacist counselling? How offensive. If one works for a pharmacy, the job is to fill prescriptions, not chime in with a moral opinion. If that is an issue, go work for a private religious hospital or pharmacy.
I would especially welcome and appreciate word from the Fimian campaign that this information is indeed false. This is the year 2010, in the United States of America. Griswald was decided 45 years ago.
