A Catholic Pharmacist vs Free Will

What about the woman's rights? Would not this be an issue between the woman and her God. Don't Catholics believe in Free Will. People who are not religious should not be denied birth control because some guy decided otherwise.


Legal group: Board dropped complaints against pharmacist
By KATIE OYAN - Associated Press - 03/11/08
A conservative legal defense group said Monday that the Montana Board of Pharmacy has dropped all complaints against a Broadus pharmacist who refused to dispense contraceptives because of his religious beliefs.Pharmacist John Lane said he was the subject of 11 complaints to the board after he announced in the fall that he would stop dispensing birth control and ‘‘morning-after’’ pills on Jan. 1. Lane converted to Catholicism over a decade ago and believes human life begins at conception.He was represented before the pharmacy board by the national Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal agency that often takes on conservative Christian causes.The group said the state board dismissed the complaints last week. But the board’s executive director, Ron Klein, would not confirm or deny that.‘‘Those proceedings do not take place in public, so I can’t comment one way or the other,’’ Klein said. ‘‘The right to privacy was adjudged by the chairman to outweigh the public’s right to know.’’However, Anjeanette Lindle, prosecuting attorney for the pharmacy board, said the panel did dismiss one complaint against Lane and that she could comment on it because both Lane and the complainant had waived their right to privacy.
That complainant claimed Lane was ‘‘unethical in refusing to sell birth control to women with legitimate prescriptions,’’ Lindle said. The complainant asked that Lane’s license be revoked unless he started selling contraceptives again.Lindle declined to identify the complainant.She said the board found there had been no violation of its rules or statutes and dismissed the complaint with prejudice, meaning it can’t be brought up again and won’t show up on Lane’s record.She declined to discuss any other complaints, or even confirm that there were any.However, Lane said the other 10 complaints also claimed that he behaved unprofessionally by not filling valid prescriptions. He said all 11 complaints were filed by Missoula residents.Lane added that he is a Catholic, and the Catholic Church ‘‘recognizes that life needs to be both recognized and protected from conception.’’He said women using the birth-control pill can still ovulate occasionally, meaning sex can result in a fertilized egg. Because the pill also prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, a fertilized egg may then pass out of the woman’s body unnoticed.‘‘In the pledge I took when I became a pharmacist, I said, ‘I vow to devote my professional life to the services of all humankind through the profession of pharmacy,’ ’’ Lane said in October in a full-page ad in the Powder River Examiner announcing his decision. ‘‘I am now unable to conclude that humankind begins at any other point besides conception.’’Lane said Monday he made sure the pharmacy board knew of the steps he had taken to keep customers in his rural southeastern Montana community from having problems accessing contraceptives elsewhere.He said he put the announcement in the newspaper more than two months before he stopped selling contraceptives and wrote letters to affected patients explaining their options.At least two other Montana pharmacies, both in Great Falls, have also declined to sell contraceptives for religious reasons. Lane said both pharmacies have the same the Catholic owners.Associated Press Writer Len Iwanski contributed to this story.