Bill of the Week - AB 67-Violating Pharmacists' Conscience 
In the past decade, California has made it increasingly difficult for healthcare workers with moral or religious views to continue working without violating their conscience. From mandatory euthanasia counseling to forced insemination of lesbians, many Christians, Jews, Muslims and other people with moral convictions are being forced to choose between helping patients and violating their beliefs. AB 67 is yet another attack on these healthcare professionals.
AB 67 establishes the Pharmacy Patient Protection Act of 2008, which "would require pharmacists to dispense all lawfully obtained prescriptions when the prescribed medication is in stock without regard to any ethical, moral, or religious objections." This means that a Catholic pharmacist would be breaking the law if they didn't violate their conscience and dispense birth-control or abortion-inducing drugs (morning after pills). It is shocking that lawmakers believe the "right to drugs" supersedes the freedom of religion in our Constitution. If a pharmacist violates AB 67, the pharmacist's license could be revoked. Thus, pharmacists will be placed in the unconscionable dilemma of choosing the family's livelihood or their religious beliefs.
As there is no historic or constitutional "right" to medical drugs or even medical treatment (it is the blessings of a generous and civil society, not a "right"), it seems that someone's right to freedom of religion should trump a desire for a certain drug.
This bill has not yet been passed, but given the leanings of California's legislature, it probably will be.
2 comments:
there is no right to free medicine, but we do have the right to life, liberty (irrelevant here... or is it?) and the pursuit of happiness.
What the right to life means is that the government cannot take away your life without due process of law. It does not mean that you have the right to get free medical care paid for by someone else. There cannot be such a right, as it requires the violation of someone else's private property rights to guarantee it.
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