Washington State Board of Pharmacy
Issue:  Conscience Clause for Pharmacists

On April 18th and 19th, 2006 the Washington Board of Pharmacy held public comment hearings while they considered the question of a pharmacist's right to refuse to fill a prescription based upon personal religious and moral beliefs.  The Seattle Section, an active member of the Washington Alliance for Reproductive Choice, participated in the efforts to mobilize citizens to contact the Board of Pharmacy urging them not to allow pharmacists a "conscience clause".  Over 25 members and supporters of the Seattle Section sent letters to the Board of Pharmacy.  Seattle Section Executive Director, Lauren Simonds, attended the public comment hearing on April 18th in Tumwater, WA.  NCJW was the only Jewish organization represented at the hearings.  Public comments were limited to 2-minutes per person. As of April 24th, 2006, it appears the Board of Pharmacy plans to create two rules:  (1) Pharmacists in Washington State must fill all prescriptions regardless of their personal religious and moral beliefs, unless there is another pharmacist on-site at the time who can fill the presciption; (2) Pharmacists may not subject patients to moral and religious lectures.  The first draft of the proposed rules should be available by the end of May 2006.

Good morning.  I am Lauren Simonds, the Executive Director of the Seattle Section of the National Council of Jewish Women, also known as NCJW.  NCJW is a volunteer-based organization that has been active in social justice advocacy in Washington state since 1900 and nationally since 1893.  I am here representing over 500 members and supporters of NCJW in our state.

NCJW believes that allowing pharmacists the right to refuse to fill a legal prescription based on their personal religious and moral beliefs defies the very meaning of religious liberty.  As Jews we know what it means to have fundamental rights and liberties stripped away.  While not written in the constitution, the people of our country, and our state, have come to view healthcare as a fundamental right, and what goes along with that is the right to have the decisions made with our doctors be respected and fulfilled by other medical professionals.  To give pharmacists the right to refuse to fill a prescription based on their personal beliefs is just another day in the continuing campaign to satisfy the religious right, an effort that has been the hallmark of the past five years of government policy in our country.  And once again, women’s health is taking a backseat to ideology.

It can be documented, dating back to biblical times, that Jews believe that life begins at birth, not conception.  Therefore, the use of birth control and emergency contraception is not a moral issue for most Jews, and if it is, as individuals we have the freedom to choose what is best for ourselves, and how to fulfill our personal religious beliefs and morals.  Passing this Rule would compel the people of Washington State, regardless of their religious beliefs, to be subject and subjugated to someone else’s religious belief system – that is not freedom of religion.

I work with many rabbis and Jewish communal service professionals who could not be here today.  The timing of these stakeholder meetings are actually keeping a large religious minority group in our state with a vested interest in this issue from participating because they are scheduled on a major Jewish holiday – the holiday of Passover, and this holiday does not end until sundown tomorrow. 

NCJW urges the Washington Board of Pharmacy not to allow pharmacists the right to refuse to fill a prescription, even if they do refer the patient to another pharmacy.  If a pharmacist has an issue filling prescriptions for any medication, let that pharmacist bear the burden of exercising her or his personal moral and religious beliefs by finding a job where they do not have to cater to the public.  The burden should not be carried by the citizens of our state.  It violates our civil rights and our religious freedom.