Kansas Pharmacy Picketed by Abortion Advocates Over Morning After Pill 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 3, 2006
Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) — Abortion advocates from Planned Parenthood picketed a Walgreens pharmacy in Wichita on Thursday after a pharmacist there refused to fill a prescription for the morning after pill, which can sometimes cause an abortion.
The woman in question went to the pharmacy on December 28 after receiving a prescription for the Plan B drug from the local Planned Parenthood abortion center. The pharmacist told her he would not fill the order because of his personal beliefs about the drug causing some abortions.
According to an AP report, about three dozen Planned Parenthood activists protested on a street outside the pharmacy and they were met by a dozen pro-life advocates who gathered on the other side of the street.
Walgreens representative Michael Polzin defended the pharmacist and said he was within his rights to refuse to fill the older.
"We do give our pharmacists, where state law allows, the ability to step away from filling a prescription that they object to on moral grounds," Polzin told AP.
However, Polzin also said the pharmacist should have helped the woman find another pharmacist to fill the prescription in store or referred her to a store where her order could be filled.
Darcy Weaver, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman, told AP her organization may propose a measure in Kansas requiring pharmacists to fill prescriptions for all legal drugs, including those that could cause abortions.
"Nationwide, we’re all working on that," she said.
However, Polzin said pharmacists need to be able to opt out of dispensing drugs that go against their moral or religious beliefs as long as they help the customer get the prescription filled.
He told AP, it "first and foremost meets our obligations to take care of the patients’ health care needs while at the same time respecting the views of our pharmacists."
Walgreens has come under fire from pro-life advocates fire firing five Illinois pharmacists in the southern Illinois area after they refused to fill the drug.
The company said it was merely following a legal mandate from pro-abortion Gov. Rod Blagojevich ordering pharmacists to fill orders for all drugs. Both Walgreens and Blagojevich face lawsuits over the matter.
