Pharmacist refuses to give mother, 38, contraceptive due to her religion

I wish I was making this up.

A pharmacist refused to serve a mother-of-two with a prescription for the contraceptive pill because it went against her religious beliefs.

Shocked Janine Deeley, 38, initially thought the female pharmacist must be joking, but became angry when she was told to try another chemist or come back the next day when someone else was on duty.

Miss Deeley said she is prescribed the pill by her GP because she suffers from a condition which causes painful periods.

She said she was furious at being 'treated like a child' and having to explain herself like an irresponsible teenager.

She said: 'I couldn't believe the arrogance of the woman. Who is she to refuse to give me properly prescribed legal drugs? I am a responsible
adult.

'She had no right to refuse to dispense my prescription except if the drugs weren't in stock or if she thought the dosage was incorrect.'

The branch of Lloyd's pharmacy adjoins the doctor's surgery and Miss Deeley said she had used it for years without a problem. But this time the pharmacist took her to one said
and said she could have the painkillers she wanted but not the
contraceptive pill.

'I asked "oh why not?" and she said "I don't give them out because of my religion." I honestly thought she was joking and I said "Pardon?"

'She repeated it and I said "You're not giving me the pills because of your religion?" and she replied "Yes." I was absolutely stunned. I was fuming and just stormed
out.'

Miss Deeley, of Wybourn, Sheffield, added: 'I had no idea what religion the woman was and I don't remember if she has served me before. The other staff looked very embarrassed but obviously it was
the pharmacist's decision.

'There's a lot of things in society you might not like or agree with, but you can't do anything about them.This type of thing shouldn't be happening, it's not right.'

The jobless single mother has daughters Carlie, 18, and Lauren, 14, and she is concerned about the implications of such a refusal policy.

She said: 'My daughter is 18 - she might want to go on the Pill and she has got that right. I'd rather have that than an unwanted pregnancy.'

A spokeswoman for Lloyds pharmacy said an investigation had been launched: 'We are very sorry Ms Deeley was refused supply of her
prescribed contraceptive pill at our Duke Street pharmacy.

Refusal: The Lloyds Pharmacy on Duke Street, Sheffield, where a pharmacist refused to give Miss Deeley her contraceptive pills

'We have launched an investigation into the incident and been in contact with her to apologise for any distress and inconvenience caused.'

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Permalink Reply by kelltrill on March 22, 2010 at 9:58am

I'm surprised this type of thing happens in the UK. I always saw the UK as a fairly religiously tolerant country. I guess this is just proof that it's never safe to generalise, whether the generalisation is negative or positive.
I met a woman here in SA who was a white, middle-aged, middle-class, educated, devout Catholic. Having never met a devout Catholic before I proceeded to inquire curiously and kindly about her religion. Very soon I realised that she was completely off her rocker. She was saying things like, "Women used to be objects of reproduction but because of contraception they think they've become independent but they're actually just objects of sex now." She babbled on about original sin and said things I've only ever heard on forums. I think I was more disappointed than shocked. I knew there were very religious people out there, but it's different when someone in a foreign country I've never even been to says something religiously inane, like Sarah Palin's creationist tendencies/views, to when you hear someone talking like that on your front doorstep.
I'm just glad that the general response to this incident has been shock and embarrassment rather than an uproar of voices condoning it.

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Permalink Reply by a7 on March 22, 2010 at 10:25am

hi kelly

i was also surprised, however you get religous dogma evedn here in a fairly religiously tolerant country like ours.

another two things have happened that has made me choke on my morning porridge oats

1. a multi millionaire has given all his cash to the catholic church and the court have let the catholics opt out of new legislation about giving adopted kids to same sex couples.

anyway it was nice speaking, ill see you around, if you need anything drop a wee note and ill get back to you.

my facxebook thingy is
a7gg10@yahoo.com

take care

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Permalink Reply by a7 on March 22, 2010 at 4:43pm

well said debs, we need more people like you , however it is not only the fundies we must fight but passive atheisim

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Permalink Reply by Christopher McGuire on March 23, 2010 at 3:59am

a7, for a while, I thought I was alone in believing this! Thank you, sir.

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Permalink Reply by Lindsey on March 22, 2010 at 5:17pm

People have a right to not use it themselves if they choose not to, but its wrong to allow people to use their religion to deny other people the right to get legal medications like this. That woman had a legal prescription, given to her by a doctor, and that pharmacist had no right to deny it to her. Period. We atheists need to raise hell about things like these, or else people will just keep on using their religion as an excuse to infringe upon other's legal rights.

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Permalink Reply by darwinbaby on July 25, 2010 at 12:16am

#1) The chemist should be fired. If she can't perform her required job functions, she shouldn't be in that line of work.
#2) I'm kind of insulted. They state that the woman was on the Pill because she has painful periods. She has my sympathy, of course, and I'm glad it helps her. But that intimates that she is justified in her surprise and anger, not because she wants birth control, but because of a painful chronic condition. How would people have reacted if she had said she wanted the Pill because she has enough kids?

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Permalink Reply by M on July 26, 2010 at 5:58pm

It seems to me that if you refuse to perform reasonable aspects of your job, you should be asked to leave your job. I'm sure there are lots of other pharmacists who would be happy to take her position and dispense birth control galore. If I worked at a coffee stand and told people that I absolutely refused to make lattes but that they could have whatever other beverage they wanted, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be working there very long. It's the same thing, only on a much more important scale involving people's health and medications. Whether that woman wanted to prevent pregnancy or deal with painful periods does not matter: it is her right to have that medication.

Not only that, but if religious people would educate themselves on their own reproductive organs and their cycles and how these medications actually work on them, it would just make the world a less stupid place. (Oh, and they might stop single-handedly overpopulating the world and take a contraceptive, too.)