Reference no: EM133281653

Case study

Kathleen Pulzes should have the right to get the morning after pill (plan B). Kathleen wasn't ready for another kid if she had been ready, she wouldn't have wanted to get the morning after pill or her freaking out because of the condom broke. According to the book it states, "The Pulzes long ago decided that they could not afford a fifth child. So, when the condom they were using broke, they panicked" (122). This clearly shows she was ready to add another child to the family. I don't agree with Brejcha that "Every pharmacist has the right to do the same thing," (122). No pharmacist should refuse anyone coming in for birth control or plan B. If the patient is abusing the prescription, then go ahead and refuse but other than that no. A person comes in for birth control or plan B is because they aren't ready to become parent or they have a hard life and can't afford to take a of newborn. According to the book it states, "By the time Suzanne Richards, 21, finally found another pharmacy to fill her morning-after pill prescription-after being rejected by a drive-through Brooks Pharmacy in Laconia, N.H., one late Saturday night in September- the seventy-two hours had long passed. "When he told me he wouldn't fill it, I just pulled over in the parking lot and started crying," says the single mother of a 3-year-old. "I just couldn't believe it. I was just trying to be responsible" (123). Suzanne wasn't ready to take care of a baby and she clearly didn't want to have no. The best way she choice to go it is getting morning after pill. Birth control and plan b are better because it's better than her going later and getting an abortion.

Conscientious refusal (or conscientious objection), is an important and interesting topic in the medical field. While it seems right that a person should be able to access legal medical treatments it also seems wrong to require professionals to act against their conscience. But what do we do when these issues collide? Read the case from your text and answer the questions below. Incorporate a discussion of principlism and objections to it in your responses. In particular, discuss how certain principles may support opposing views of this issue.

Questions 1. "The United States was founded on the idea that people act on their conscience-that they have a sense of right and wrong and do what they think is right and moral," says Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel at the Thomas More Society, a Chicago public-interest law firm that is defending a pharmacist who was fined and reprimanded for refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control pills."Every pharmacist has the right to do the same thing," Brejcha says. Do you agree with Brejcha?

2. Does refusing to fill a prescription for birth control prevent access to a basic form of health care for women? Does forcing someone to act against their conscience duties violate autonomy when the action is directly related to their professional responsibilities? Discuss your view in-depth.