To think if a pharmacist refuses to dispense medication due to religious or personal beliefs

I'm not sure that makes sense. NO pharmacy at all will prescribe the MAP to any male person - is that discrimination too?

@Whatevershallidowithmylife It wouldn't happen because its predominantly nurses that put up blood and there tends to be a lot more of us but I did have a colleague who was JW (in remote rural Scotland funnily enough) who asked if could put blood up for her patient, she would do it if there was no alternative.

As a pp said, in this country we are allowed quite a lot of freedom in beliefs. Some people believe terminating pregnancies is wrong (not saying I believe this).

The professional bodies of healthcare professionals allow their members to conscientiously object to participating, under strict guidelines.

Are we saying that people should be denied the right to honour their beliefs? In their jobs, people should be directed to do something they believe is wrong?

The person needing the treatment just gets it elsewhere. Quite rightly, the treatment is widely available but individual practitioners are allowed to not want to be involved.

And what would the implantation very likely lead to if it weren't prevented...?

Just a side note. When this comes up I always remember learning this…

“Note that there is no evidence that oral EC is effective if ovulation has already occurred.”

Just something to consider. Technically not the same as abortion ethically speaking as it prevents it happening in the first place. Fine line I know there is fertilisation in the tube etc but it surprised me when I found that out.

I think if no other option within reasonable distance they should have to sell it. Allow the person to ‘sin’ if they want to make that decision.

I think the outrage is misplaced, in very rural communities (e.g. the highlands) the GP can supply, and this really isn't a widespread issue among pharmacists. It's pretty rare for anyone to object. You can also get the MAP online now.

In that situation the JW surgeon would be expected to perform the blood transfusion.

Yes, MN as a whole is very anti-religion, but many seem to express their belief that nobody should be allowed to live their lives according to their personal religious convictions with an almost religious fervour!

But they’re not refusing the woman, they’re refusing to supply a product.

No, only to women. In most situations that would be considered secondary discrimination and illegal.

Want to restrict female-only spaces and services to women and girls only, because of your 'bigoted belief' that a man who claims otherwise is NOT female...

The MAP does not end an early pregnancy at all. If you’re already pregnant, the MAP won’t do anything. It doesn’t end a pregnancy.

It can prevent implantation if implantation has not happened yet. It wont end it if it already has.

Just in case anyone googles this in future in a panic - the MAP (Levonelle and Ulipristal/EllaOne) will not interrupt a pregnancy, but it's not recommended to take when pregnant, probably obviously.

But it will interrupt/prevent a very early pregnancy, whether that's the intention or not - that's the whole purpose of it.

Sorry for any confusion, I wasn't referring to a pregnancy that is further along.

Sacked by who? Most pharmacists own their own business.

What happens if it’s an emergency and a blood transfusion is required and the JW surgeon is the only one on duty eg small hospital in Scotland? Unlikely scenario but possible?

I agree with you there Ditalini and think this info should be freely available and clear.

I do think it's a bit worrying that there's less knowledge about this right, and how it disproportionately affects groups who are less able to access healthcare.

For example, women living rurally or in underserved communities, women in controlling relationships, women living in poverty, women with anxiety or other conditions where refusal might put them off looking elsewhere, or who may have not sought care until late in the window of effectiveness.

It should be possible to ensure that all women have easy access to the MAP by literally mapping provision so that GPs and practice nurses can dispense instead if necessary. Do pharmacists have to register their objections so that service availability can be evaluated?

Or do we shrug, assume it's nbd and they can always get an abortion if they get caught out 🤔

It isn’t any population though is it? It’s having the right to hold a value about an act, not a person. They’re not refusing to sell paracetamol to black people or Jews.

They are not refusing to do their jobs nor are they holding anyone hostage.

@FlexIt post above explains it very well:

I don’t know how people don’t know this.
It isn’t pharmacists getting qualified and then deciding not to do part of their job.
It’s enshrined in the job before they even start that they will have the right to decline to prescribe certain things. So they are fulfilling all parts of the job since this part is effectively optional.

Are there any other parts of the population we should afford pharmacists the opportunity to discriminate against?

if it’s in the pharmacy they should hand it over to the customer. If they don’t object to having medications on the shelf they shouldn’t object to selling them.

@veilstone as explained above, they aren’t downing tools and refusing to do their jobs!
Some parts of their jobs are effectively optional including map, therefore they are opting not to do it.

How would we cope as a nation without the pharmacists and doctors who perform 99.99% of their other functions?

It's a shame if pharmacists refusing to do their jobs are holding people hostage like that.

Staff with these beliefs should have to work in a large pharmacy where there are at least 2 pharmacists (and the other one is happy to prescribe) they shouldn't be allowed to work in very rural locations where the nearest pharmacy could be many miles away.

There is a huge shortage of pharmacists, the most likely outcome of what you’re suggesting is that the pharmacist wouldn’t be replaced & these rural locations would just have to make do with no pharmacy at all i.e. forcing everyone to travel many miles.

Yes- this was widely publicised when the MAP became over the counter, and it’s logical considering that hcps can object to doing various treatments/procedures on religious grounds.

People like to think religion is no longer relevant and RE is a waste of time but actually religion permeates basically everything.