Pro-Life Pharmacist in MT being persecuted by harrassing complaints, Board of Pharmacy

Hi All,
>
>    It makes my blood run cold when I learn about what is going on in
>    our country right now relative to the healthcare professions and the
>    constitutionally guaranteed (on both federal and state
>    levels) freedom of religious expression and liberty of conscience.
>
>    Last spring I asked your prayers for pharmacist friends of mine in
>    Great Falls who followed their consciences and stopped filling
>    prescriptions for contraceptive medications. The Holy Spirit has
>    been with them, and they have suffered no significant problems (so
>    far) once the initial bruhaha calmed down.

Now there is another
>    Montana pharmacist, John Lane, in Broadus, MT (a city in the vicinity of
>    Billings) who has made the same decision. (It's a small world out
>    here -- he happens to be the cousin-in-law of my pastor at St.
>    Mark's in Belt!) He, however, is going through much more.
>
>    Eleven people have written complaints to the Montana Board of
>    Pharmacy about his decision, citing him for "unprofessional
>    conduct," with one going so far as to request that his license be
>    revoked. All of these complaints were written by people who live in
>    different parts of the state, with 10 of the 11 living in Missoula
>    (a university town, don't you know!), which is about 400 miles from
>    Broadus. From that distance, none of the complainants will ever need
>    John Lane's services themselves, so his decision has no personal
>    bearing on them.
>
>    Regardless, John must now appear before the Montana Board of
>    Pharmacy review panel on Wed., March 5th. He has requested that it
>    be an open session, so that people could attend. His request was
>    denied. He will appear in a closed session with the 11 complainants
>    and their lawyers. He will be represented by an attorney from
>    the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization that only takes cases
>    that deal with religious freedoms or preservation of life.
>
>    Please pray that this man's constitutional right to run his business
>    as he sees fit, based on his religious beliefs and his conscience
>    will be upheld. His situation represents a growing trend in this
>    country. South Dakota has a bill before their legislators to repeal
>    their state's pharmacist conscience clause. Other states have talked
>    about doing the same. And my own home state of Wisconsin has passed
>    a law denying freedom of conscience to hospitals and doctors
>    regarding emergency contraception.
>
>    Please remember, when people like John Lane or my Great Falls
>    pharmacist friends, or institutions like Catholic hospitals, make
>    policy based on their religious beliefs and their consciences, it
>    isn't like there are no other pharmacies or hospitals for people to
>    turn to. There are many, many more pharmacies and hospitals
>    providing all of the contraception and abortion services than there
>    are those that are not. This isn't about supply and demand -- it's
>    about dictatorial control that prohibits some people's freedoms --
>    constitutionally guaranteed freedoms at that! This is no small thing.
>
>    At any rate, this terrible "Big Brother" injustice is happening one
>    small, privately-owned pharmacy at a time so far in Montana. And
>    that creates a situation of untold stress for those involved. Please
>    pray for John Lane and his family. If you would like to send him an
>    email of support, you may do so via PFLI's Pharmacist Conscience

Coalition at conscience@pfli.org. And please pass the request for
>    prayers on to anyone you know who might respond with prayer support.
>
>    Thank you! Your prayers not only, I'm sure, affected the outcome of
>    the controversy for my friends at Snyder's Drug in Great Falls, but
>    they kept them afloat emotionally and spiritually during a very
>    intensely stressful time for them. I'm sure that will be true for
>    John Lane, too.
>
>    May the Lord have mercy on our country, its politicians and its
>    judges. Just today, the first reading at Mass was from Deuteronomy:
>    "See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and
>    evil... therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may
>    live, loving the LORD your God, obeying His voice, and cleaving to
>    Him... (Dt 30:15,19c-20a)

S.
>
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