Ms. Smith Goes to Washington

December 5, 2005

A Strange Pill To Swallow

MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
by Shirley Smith

Am I the only one who wonders why, all of a sudden, in the last few months, pharmacists are refusing to do their job because of their beliefs? What if we had doctors starting to do the same thing? What if a pharmacist believed that, after a certain age, people no longer had the quality of life and refused to fill prescriptions? What if ... cab drivers, pilots, train engineers, ambulance drivers, grocery stores, etc.? Insane? Yes, and where does this type of insanity usually come from?  

I'm wondering "who" has been behind this, and I've also wondered if there isn't a group who have been talking to pharmacists across the country. It took the Bush GOP administration to bring out people's prejudices, even though we always know they are there and just dying for the permission to come on out. Beliefs or even superstitions should have no bearing on their job (pharmacists) towards filling prescriptions.  

AP Wire | 12/01/2005 | Ill. pharmacists withhold emergency pill  

Americans United for Life: http://www.unitedforlife.org

This is just one more dangerous path ... it can lead to all kinds of prejudices ... as we have already seen years ago, when people lost their lives from bombs because some person didn't believe in a woman's right to choose.  

This is just another way to use a group's religious beliefs against innocent people. Unless pharmacists have a national organization, I smell the workings of the Right Wing or the Christian Coalition of the Bush GOP. They don't have any consideration or respect for other people's beliefs. If a pharmacist is going to choose that career, and then choose not to fill prescriptions, which is their job, I have to wonder about trusting such a pharmacist at all. What if one of these people, one day in the future if this is allowed to "heat" up ... decided to fill a prescription wrong and on purpose.  

This is a serious problem that is not being taken too seriously by most of the public. People don't want to think about those things, but it wouldn't be the first time people put their beliefs before other people's safety and lives ... Bush for one ... his god led him into war, isn't that his story?  

Just a thought,

Thanks BuzzFlash,

Shirley Smith

Shirley Smith is a regular BuzzFlash Reader and Contributor. Many of her earlier posts can be found in the Mailbag.