Latest Faith-Based Pharmacy Opens In Virginia, Refuses To Dispense Contraception

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 23 Oct 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy opened Tuesday in Chantilly, Va., becoming at least the seventh pharmacy nationwide to refuse to sell contraception on religious grounds, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The organization that owns the pharmacy, Divine Mercy Care, is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, but the organization is guided by church teachings that prohibit contraception -- including birth control pills, emergency contraception and condoms -- according to the AP/Globe. The antiabortion group Pharmacists for Life International has certified that the pharmacy does not provide birth control. The group estimates that hundreds of other pharmacies are refusing to dispense contraception but have not been certified. The executive director of Divine Mercy Care believes many Catholics within a few miles of the store will support its mission and make up for the estimated 10 percent of business that contraceptives represent in a typical pharmacy.

The new pharmacy comes as states nationwide "have been wrestling with the issue of pharmacists who refuse on religious grounds" to dispense contraception, the AP/Globe reports. According to the National Women's Law Center, at least four states give pharmacists the explicit right not to fill any prescription, and at least seven states require pharmacists to fill contraceptive prescriptions. Under Virginia law, pharmacists are permitted to turn away prescriptions for any reason. The Globe reports that abortion-rights groups have collected 1,000 signatures protesting the new pharmacy and are calling for a boycott. Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, said, "If this emboldens other pharmacies in other parts of the state, it could really affect low-income and rural women in terms of access" (Barakat, AP/Boston Globe, 10/22).

Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy does not display a sign stating that it does not dispense contraception, and DMC officials said at least two pharmacies are within walking distance that provide contraception. Richard Sloan, professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, said the pharmacy should refer people to other stores that will dispense birth control, adding that not doing so "appears to violate any number of professional codes of ethics of the American Pharmacists Association." Sloan said, "The central element is that the pharmacy must place the well-being of the patient over the pharmacist's personal well-being" (Duin, Washington Times, 10/22).

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