Pharmacist Refuses To Fill Prescriptions For Moral Reasons
Walgreens Allows Pharmacists To Not Dispense Drugs They Object To

MILWAUKEE -- A WISN 12 News investigation has discovered that a Milwaukee-area pharmacist has refused to fill prescriptions for women citing religious reasons.

A Milwaukee mother of six walked into a north side Walgreens with a prescription for the so-called morning after pill.

The woman, who 12 News is not identifying, said it was a difficult decision.

"Financially, I wouldn't be able to afford having another child," Jane Doe said.

She asked 12 News to disguise her identity -- afraid of backlash from those who might judge her.

"I mean, I guess I was desperate," Doe said.

Doctors prescribe the pill to prevent pregnancy. It should be taken within 72 hours of conception. [Note: This is factually incorrect. There are two pills, for one thing, and the first needs to be taken within 120 hours of unprotected sex, not "conception."]

"It was right after New Year's weekend. I got it as soon as I could," Doe said.

But the pharmacist refused to fill her prescription.

"She just told me that she will not fill it. That she's Catholic, and it's murder," Doe said.

Then, she said, before a crowded waiting area, the pharmacist berated her.

"'You're a murderer. I will not help you kill this baby. I will not have the blood on my hands,'" Doe said. "I tried to explain to her that it's emergency contraceptives, that it's not an abortion pill. She then snatched the form from me, that the prescription was attached to, telling me the paper was full of lies, and she won't be a part of it. I was crying, shaking, upset, so embarrassed. I wanted to run out of the store and hope nobody else could get a good look at me."

"So, did you ever get your emergency contraceptives?" 12 News Senior Investigative Reporter Colleen Henry asked.

"No, I never received that one," Doe said.

"And you became pregnant?" Henry asked.

"I did become pregnant, and I had to terminate the pregnancy. It was very hard. And I didn't want to be what she called me. But that's what I ended up being," Doe said.

The woman claimed she's emotionally distressed, that Walgreens breached her privacy and discriminated against her.

Her lawyer said Walgreens failed to ensure its female customers have the same access to reproductive health care as men.

"Condoms are sold there, very easily, very accessible. Viagra ... and I suspect there is no situation where that pharmacist has said to a man, 'I think there's something wrong in you taking Viagra,'" attorney Tricia Knight said.

WISN 12 News wanted to see for itself so it sent producers wearing hidden cameras back to the Walgreens pharmacist to ask about the morning after pill.

"I won't dispense it. You have to wait until the next pharmacist comes in at 2 p.m.," pharmacist Michelle Long (pictured, right) said.

"You said you won't do it, why?" the producer asked.

"Because I'm Catholic, and it's against my religion," Long said.

Later, Long explained her position to another undercover 12 News staffer.

"It's a chemical abortion. If there is a fertilized egg, it prevents it from implanting, which causes a chemical abortion," Long said.

"Isn't this pill legal?" the staffer asked.

"It's legal. It's legal, yeah," Long said.

I'm just confused. I don't know why, if it's legal, why can't have it?" the staffer asked.

"Regular abortion procedures are legal also, but not everybody in the country believes in it," Long said.

Each time, Long was consistent in her position.

WISN 12 News went to Long to ask about the woman's complaint.

"She said that you refused to fill her morning after pill prescription, that you called her a baby-killer, and said you didn't want blood on your hands," Henry stated.

"No, I'm sure I didn't say that. No, I'm quite positive I wouldn't say that," Long responded.

"Do you fill prescriptions for the morning after pill?" Henry asked.

"No," Long said.

"Is that for religious reasons?" Henry asked.

"Yes," Long answered.

Walgreens policy allows pharmacists to refuse to dispense drugs they object to.

"If a pharmacist does refuse, we require the pharmacist to pass the prescription on to another pharmacist at that location, or to another pharmacy," a Walgreens spokesman told 12 News.

"It's like she's trying to play God or something," Doe said.

But the woman believes Walgreens' policy is selling women short.

"What's been the hardest thing for you in all of this?" Henry asked.

"Having to have an abortion. I feel like it didn't have to get to that point. It could have been prevented. That's what I was attempting to do," Doe said.

"She became pregnant. She had an abortion. She says that it was because you wouldn't fill her morning after pill prescription," Henry told Long.

"This is the first I'm hearing about it, so I'm not really prepared to comment on that," Long said.

Long told 12 News she feels strongly about her beliefs and would like to talk more about them, but Walgreens advised her not to comment, and told Henry they have no official record of the woman's complaint.

Long was not confrontational with the 12 News producers who asked about emergency contraception.

A state lawmaker has introduced a bill to give pharmacists a so-called conscience clause -- legal protection for refusing to dispense a prescription. It would be the same way the law protects doctors who opt out of procedures they find immoral.

Wisconsin was the first state to reprimand a pharmacist who refused to fill a college student's prescription for birth control pills.

Pharmacist Neil Noesen is now at the center of a national firestorm. You can hear his story Thursday on "12 News at 5:00."

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Tags: catholic, women's health