Sat, 28 Jan 2006

Pharmacists Sue Over Birth Control Policy

Let me see if I understand this as a generic principle of law. Suppose that I hire a new employee for a farm store, and that employee happens to have deep moral and religious convictions against homosexuality. And when an obviously gay couple (say, two guys, holding hands) come into the store and and try to purchase eggs, this employee refuses to serve them, citing his religious convictions against keeping perverts alive.

And I can't fire him?

What about a liberal department store employee who refuses to sell guns? Is every silly peccadillo of every American to be suffered and tolerated in the name of "conscience"?

If these pharmacists are allowed to get away with this, will it not lead to outright discrimination against Catholic pharmacists? If I were the manager of a Walgreens hiring more help under this scenario, which potential employee would I be more likely to choose: one with an "I'm Pro-Life and I Vote" bumper sticker or one with a sign that says "Tree-Hugging Dirt Worshipper"?

Laws requiring stores to sell certain products are just as onerous - should all news stands be required to carry Hustler? Should any farm dealing with livestock be forced to sell guns?

Next time I hear some conservative commentator rant about how liberals are destroying American small business I think I'm gonna gag. For while many liberals do indeed seem to be hell-bent on choking the life out of us little guys, they've got plenty of help from the right. Government, of any stripe, is the problem, not the solution. And government is coming at us from left and right. The rallying cry of small businesses should be, as it has classically been, "Laissez-faire!" - Leave Us Alone!

AP - Four pharmacists who refused to sign a pledge promising to dispense the morning-after birth-control pill sued Walgreen drug stores Friday, alleging they were illegally fired.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

/Politics | 1 writeback | permanent link

On 1/28/2006 16:22:12
Esuor Kram wrote

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