A Lifesaver
To many Americans, Plan B is a lifesaver that protects individuals from unwanted pregnancies (including those caused by rape). To others, it’s a life killer. Although many people who oppose abortion believe that life doesn’t start until after a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus, others believe that life begins as soon as an egg is fertilized. To these individuals, Plan B is just another form of abortion, and abortion is just another form of murder. Moreover, Plan B seems particularly reprehensible to them because it allows individuals to end pregnancies quickly, cheaply, and safely, thus making abortion far more palatable and feasible than it might otherwise be.
Since abortion was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, most states have passed “conscience clauses” that permit health care students and professionals to opt out of learning or performing abortions or other tasks (such as sterilization or physician assisted suicide) that they consider unethical (Berlinger, 2008). More recently, pharmacists and others who oppose abortion have successfully pressed some states to pass conscience clauses that allow pharmacists to opt out of personally providing any drugs they consider unethical. Conversely, other states have passed laws that, at a minimum, require pharmacists to inform customers of other pharmacies that do stock and sell these drugs.
Pharmacists who believe on religious grounds that Plan B causes abortions and is therefore immoral argue that forcing them to provide the drug goes against their right time, the virtual elimination of differences between allopathic and osteopathic treatment and theory has reduced osteopaths’ sense of a strong separate identity.
