Target Pharmacist Says She Was Fired For Saying She Will Not Fill EC Prescriptions; Files Complaint With EEOC

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 04 Feb 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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An attorney for Heather Williams, a former Target pharmacist, on Thursday filed a federal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a store in the St. Louis, Mo., area saying that his client was fired in December 2005 for saying she would decline to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, the AP/Kansas City Star reports. According to Ed Martin -- an attorney representing Williams who works for the Americans United for Life, which opposes abortion rights -- Williams informed Target employers prior to being hired five years ago that she objected to filling prescriptions for EC, and the company honored that request. Williams twice declined to dispense EC during her time at Target but in recent years has not been asked to dispense the drug, Martin said. He said that if Williams were asked to dispense EC, she would neither fill the prescription nor refer the patient to another pharmacist to have it filled. He added, "The tradition of both health care and religious freedom allows people to say, 'I don't want to be involved.'" Paula Gianino, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, said the organization has been attempting to work with Target to ensure EC prescriptions are filled at its stores. According to the AP/Kansas City Star, Target did not return calls for comment on the story (Salter, AP/Kansas City Star, 1/26).

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