WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 3rd, 2018) — American Life League president Judie Brown issued the following statement in support of Walgreens, Inc. after an Arizona pharmacist refused to issue abortion-inducing drugs to a customer, thus exercising his conscience protections under the First Amendment.
“Pharmacists should not be asked to either surrender their conscience or their profession. Like every other American, pharmacists have strict First Amendment rights which include the absolute right to refuse to cooperate in the dispensing of drugs that cause abortion,” said Brown.
“In medicine, the Hippocratic Oath teaches us to first do no harm. For those of us who firmly believe that each and every single human being has the basic human right to exist, to compel us to be an accessory to murder is no different than handing a teenager the firearm to rob the convenience store. Each American citizen has the right to exercise his First Amendment rights; this extends to Walgreens employees as well.
“Yet there is another issue that must be addressed here. The outrageous double standard that embraces abortion while condemning those of faith must come to an end. Why aren’t we talking about how we can help the mother make a more life-affirming choice? Which pregnancy resource center could we have directed her towards?
“The very notion that we are squabbling over the how-to manual for killing babies versus how we should be taking care of babies speaks to the deep moral sickness that has gripped this nation and our society. If we cannot affirm the right to exist, what does that really say about everything else?”
Media inquiries, please contact Katie Brown at 540.659.4171 or at kbrown@all.org
###
