Supporters of women’s reproductive freedom in the US are alarmed by the growth in "pro-life pharmacies" which refuse to stock contraceptives, condoms or morning-after pills. According to the Washington Post, this is a part of a small but growing tendency for pro-life health care workers to refuse to participate in procedures to which they have ethical objections. Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life International, says that seven pharmacies around the country have signed a pledge to follow "pro-life" guidelines. "It's just the tip of the iceberg," she told the Post. "And there's new ones happening all the time."

This development exasperates some bioethicists and women’s rights activists. "We may find ourselves with whole regions of the country where virtually every pharmacy follows these limiting, discriminatory policies and women are unable to access legal, physician-prescribed medications," said R. Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin lawyer and bioethicist. "We're talking about creating a separate universe of pharmacies that puts women at a disadvantage." Critics worry about women who have been raped, or who simply want to avoid the consequences of a one-night stand.

Just as worrying is the fact that some pharmacists will not direct women to a more compliant colleague. "If I don't believe something is right, the last thing I want to do is refer to someone else," says Michael G. Koelzer, a Michigan pharmacist. "It's up to that person to be able to find it."

Is this discrimination or healthy pluralism? Academics differ. "If you are a health-care professional, you are bound by professional obligations," said Nancy Berlinger, of the Hastings Center, a bioethics think tank. "You can't say you won't do part of that profession." But Loren E. Lomasky, a bioethicist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville sees things differently. "In general, I think product differentiation expressive of differing values is a very good thing for a free, pluralistic society," he said. "If we can have 20 different brands of toothpaste, why not a few different conceptions of how pharmacies ought to operate?" ~ Washington Post, June 16