New Jersey Gov Signs Law Forcing Pharmacists to Distribute Immoral Drugs

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 5, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

New Jersey Gov Signs Law Forcing Pharmacists to Distribute Immoral Drugs Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 5,
2007

Trenton, NJ (LifeNews.com) — New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has signed a bill into law that forces pharmacists in New Jersey to dispense all legal drugs, including those that might violate their religious or moral beliefs. The bill makes pharmacists dispense the morning after pill and could open the door to dispensing abortion and euthanasia drugs.

Corzine signed the bill because he says women residents should have the ability to get birth control pills and the Plan B drug without a pharmacist standing in the way.

Sen. Joseph Vitale, a sponsor of the measure the governor approved, agreed.

"Discussions of morals and matters of conscience are admirable, but should not come into play when subjective beliefs conflict with objective medical decisions," he told the Associated Press.

But Marie Tasy, the director of New Jersey Right to Life, said the bill “sends a chilling message to individuals with religious or philosophical beliefs, that if they are pharmacists they need not apply in the state of New Jersey.

With the new law in place, the Garden State is the twelfth to force pharmacists to dispense al legal drugs despite their moral or religious views. Another four states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and South Dakota, protect the rights of pharmacists to opt out.

Corzine’s signature comes just days after Pope Benedict XVI said pharmacists should have a right to exercise their conscience and opt out of dispending drugs that potentially destroy human life.

"Pharmacists must seek to raise people’s awareness so that all human beings are protected from conception to natural death, and so that medicines truly play a therapeutic role," the pope said Monday.