Alas, that is apparently too much to ask.
A few pharmacists, who regard the morning-after pill as a form of abortion, have taken it upon themselves, as a matter of conscience, to decline to supply the medication to customers.
Some reportedly have gone so far as to confiscate prescriptions for the pills. That is theft and should be prosecuted.
Other pharmacists have refused to fill the prescriptions or, if they own the pharmacy, to carry the medication in their inventory.
We are reluctant to endorse the idea of a medical professional denying a legal product or service to someone in need. We concede, however, that a pharmacist who declines to fill a prescription for a morning-after pill out of a moral respect for life is within his or her rights. If the owner of a business does not wish to sell or stock a product, we would not say that is wrong.
By the same token, if women choose to boycott businesses that refuse to sell or stock the morning-after pill, or other forms of contraception, that is their right, too.
Ideally, a pharmacist with moral misgivings about the morning-after pill would at least refer a patient to another store or pharmacist who is willing to dispense it. But in a small town, with one pharmacy, that might be small comfort to a woman. Time matters in this form of contraception, which must be taken within about 72 hours of intercourse to be effective.
We hope that in Utah, the marketplace will accommodate the conscientious choices of individual pharmacists and patients, regardless of their views. But if pharmacies were to refuse to dispense the morning-after pill in some places, and there were no other source available, we can foresee the need for legislation making emergency contraception available to all women who need it.
Perhaps hospital emergency rooms and public health clinics could be required to dispense it, for example. As with other forms of contraception, under Utah law, the provider would be required to notify the parents or guardians of minors requesting the morning-after pill.
