[Pflienews] PharmFacts E-News Update: AMA trying again to attack freedom of conscience!

[PFLI PharmAid Center]

*PharmFacts E-News Update -- 13 June 2008 AD
*

 
*Pharmacist Conscience Coalition** (PCC)*

*Dedicated to defending for all pharmacists their First Amendment right 
to the free exercise of their conscience in all of their professional 
activities.*

*http://blog.aul.org/2008/06/12/ama-launching-yet-another-attack-on-freedom-of-conscience/*


    *AMA: Launching Yet Another Attack on Freedom of Conscience?
    <http://blog.aul.org/2008/06/12/ama-launching-yet-another-attack-on-freedom-of-conscience/>*

*By Denise Burke* | June 12, 2008

The Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association (AMA) is 
asking its membership to adopt a policy that supports eviscerating the 
freedom of conscience of pharmacists. Specifically, the following 
recommendation will be considered at next week's AMA meeting:

A pharmacist's deliberate refusal to dispense a drug on religious, 
moral, or ethical grounds, i.e., pharmacist conscientious objection, has 
been most often associated with Plan B, the emergency contraceptive, and 
has received considerable attention in both the lay media and in medical 
journal commentaries. Of all of the reasons why a pharmacist might not 
dispense a legally valid prescription, conscientious objection is the 
only one that places a pharmacist's personal views in potential conflict 
with the best interests of the patient. As discussed in current AMA 
Policy H-120.947, our AMA supports responsibility to the patient as 
paramount in all situations. Thus, our AMA supports legislation that 
would require individual pharmacists and pharmacy chains to fill legally 
valid prescriptions or to provide immediate referral to an appropriate 
alternative dispensing pharmacy without interference."

The Board of Trustees recommends that the following be adopted and the 
remainder of this report be filed: That our American Medical Association 
reaffirm Policy H-120.947, 'Preserving Patients' Ability to Have Legally 
Valid Prescriptions Filled.' (Reaffirm HOD Policy).

This is just the latest in a well-orchestrated series of attacks on the 
freedom of conscience of medical professionals. Such attacks have become 
commonplace over the past few years (emanating from the U.S. Congress, 
state legislatures, federal and state courts, and governors' mansions) 
and are most frequently encouraged by abortion advocates and their 
allies. However, this may be the most hypocritical. While purportedly 
supporting freedom of conscience protections for physicians, the AMA is 
arguing that similar protections should be denied pharmacists.

* *
SUBMITTED BY C.J. Kahler, R.Ph.

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PFLI supports pharmacist rights of conscience NOT to be forced to 
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http://www.pfli.org/main.php?pfli=conscienceclausefaq

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