Senate Bill Requires Pharmacists to Provide Basic Standard of Care
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 2, 2005
(St. Louis, MO) –NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri announced today that Senator Charles Wheeler (D) of the 10th District has filed the Patient Protection Act (SB 458) in the Missouri State Senate. The Patient Protection Act (SB 458) would compel pharmacists to fulfill their professional responsibility to provide the basic standard of care by filling legal and safe prescriptions as written by a woman’s physician.
Carolyn Sullivan, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri said, “Doctors and health care providers, including pharmacists, have a duty to ensure that patients receive accurate information and appropriate care. Failure to provide care or essential services—even for religious reasons—jeopardizes women’s health and violates bedrock principles of medical ethics.”
Despite the fact that recent national polling shows an overwhelming number of Americans do not believe that pharmacists should be able to refuse to fill lawful prescriptions, pharmacists are currently able to turn women away without filling their prescription. SB 458 would require pharmacists to alert their employer in advance if they are unwilling to fill certain prescriptions, and to make accommodations that allow patients to get their prescriptions filled in a timely manner and “without undue hardship.”
Carolyn Sullivan added that, “This bill represents a positive step forward in protecting the reproductive health of Missouri women. We face a number of challenges in terms of access to legal, doctor-prescribed contraception, and this legislation would allow us greater ability to protect ourselves from unintended pregnancy. It is our sincere hope that the Senate will make the right decision in this matter and send the message that pharmacies must put the health and safety of their patients above their own personal opinions.”
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Contact: Carolyn G. Sullivan, Executive Director, NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri, 314-531-8616
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