Pro-life pharmacists said the availability of the drug effectively forces them to participate in what they view as an immoral act. Some pharmacists in Florida, Indiana, Washington, and California have been reprimanded or fired for refusing to dispense drugs they feel can be abortifacient. So far, the board has taken no action on the measure. The resolution has its share of opponents from both sides of the abortion issue. Pro-life supporters, however, say the association's resolution does not go far enough.
Doctors have a right to refuse to perform an abortion.
Tomicki's group is drafting legislation that would give New Jersey pharmacists the right to refuse prescriptions they oppose on religious or moral grounds, and would give other health care professionals the right to refuse an order to stop providing sustenance to terminally ill patients. The bill would also give them the right to refuse to refer the patient to another provider. Tomicki says the bill will be introduced next month. He insists he has legislators who will sponsor it, though he won't identify them. Last year, to the dismay of abortion advocates, lawmakers in South Dakota enacted a bill that shields pharmacists from being sued or fired for refusing to dispense drugs used for abortion, suicide, or euthanasia.