Liberals in Georgia’s State House have defeated a bill, that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill any prescription that they feel might kill a baby (end a pregnancy). It was introduced by Conservative Republican Rep. James Mills (Gainesville). (When it comes to saving babies, he is on the side of good.) This is not the same bill that was approved by the State Senate. The State Senate’s bill has one critical difference. This gets kind of tricky, but look at the details.
House rejects pharmacists’ “right to choose”
The Georgia House balked Monday at passing legislation that would allow pharmacists to refuse on moral or religious grounds to fill any prescription that they believe could terminate a pregnancy.
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Mills argued that a pharmacist or pharmacy employee “should not be put in a position to lose his livelihood over his strong moral beliefs.”
He said his bill would give pharmacists protection similar to ones offered to doctors, nurses and hospitals that object to abortions and refuse to perform them. “He [the pharmacist] should have the right to choose,” Mills said.
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It states that a pharmacist who rejects a prescription on that basis cannot be disciplined or face other recriminatory action. It requires that the pharmacist “make all reasonable efforts” to locate another pharmacist who is willing to fill the prescription.
On March 2, the Senate approved three anti-abortion bills, including one sponsored by Sen. Jim Whitehead Sr. (R-Evans) that would protect from disciplinary action pharmacists who refuse to dispense medication that terminates a pregnancy. Planned Parenthood and other groups have said they favor the Senate bill over Mill’s legislation and say it would not affect emergency contraception such as Plan B.
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While the House and Senate bills are similar, they are not the same. They are almost the same word for word, with the exception of a few words. The difference is so subtle, that I had to run the text of both bills through WinDiff just to see the difference. And it all pivots on what a pharmacist believes would happen, versus the stated purpose of the drug. I’m going to offer more details on this difference and then explain how the “Plan B” pill (levonorgestrel) plays into this.
An excerpt from the House bill that was just voted down:
HB 1445 - Prescription drugs; effects on pregnancy; provisions for pharmacist (emphasis added)
To amend Code Section 16-12-142 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to requiring medical facilities or physicians to perform abortions and requiring others to assist, so as to provide that a pharmacist who states in writing an objection to any abortion shall not be required to fill a prescription for a drug if the pharmacist believes the drug would have the effect or possible effect of terminating a pregnancy; to provide that such refusal shall not be the basis for any claim for damages; to provide for the duration of the effectiveness of the written objection; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
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An excerpt from the bill that passed the Senate:
SB 123 - Pharmacist; written objection; not required to prescribe drugs to induce abortion (emphasis added)
To amend Code Section 16-12-142 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to requiring medical facilities or physicians to perform abortions and requiring others to assist, so as to provide that a pharmacist who states in writing an objection to any abortion shall not be required to fill a prescription for a drug if the purpose of the drug is to terminate a pregnancy; to provide that such refusal shall not be the basis for any claim for damages; to provide for the duration of the effectiveness of the written objection; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
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You see, this is why Planned Parenthood (an organization that makes lots of money off killing babies) is against the House bill. If the pharmacists were able to use their own discretion, instead of being bound by what a drug is advertised to do, they might refuse to give anyone Plan B pills. Why? Because in some cases Plan B pills do end a pregnancy, although the makers of the drug claim it is not an “abortion pill”. And this all pivots on the word “pregnant”. Pregnancy begins once a male sperm inserts into a female egg. (Also known as fertilization.) But in the world of Planned Parenthood, pregnancy does not begin until that female egg with the male sperm inside it implants its self into the womb. (Also known as implantation.)
It is important to note that Plan B pills are not RU486. RU486 can kill a baby already implemented in the womb. Plan B pills cause a baby not already implemented in the womb to starve to death. If no sperm has entered an egg, then Plan B prevents it from happening, but there is no easy way of knowing if a woman is already pregnant. With a baby trying to implant into the womb to survive.
The makers of Plan B do not feel their pills cause an abortion.
ABOUT PLAN B (Information from the people who make it.)
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Is Plan B the same as RU486 (abortion pill)?
No, Plan B is not an abortifacient. It is an emergency contraceptive and should not be confused with RU486 or any other abortifacient. Plan B is not effective if a woman is pregnant.
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Here is what the FDA has to say about Plan B pills:
FDA’s Decision Regarding Plan B: Questions and Answers (emphasis added)
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3. How does Plan B work?
Plan B works like other birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. Plan B acts primarily by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary (ovulation). It may prevent the union of sperm and egg (fertilization). If fertilization does occur, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb (implantation). If a fertilized egg is implanted prior to taking Plan B, Plan B will not work.
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Catholics have properly seen through the smoke and I agree with their view on this.
Life Issues Forum, Plan B or Plan C? by Susan Wills
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Meantime, the propaganda machine rolls on. A breezy article in the Washington Post stated that if any of the “virtual salad bar” of other contraceptive methods fails, Plan B “erases the night before.” Aside from that snippet of wishful thinking, the biggest whoppers in this blunder-filled article are these: Plan B does not cause abortions, and selling it over-the-counter will not put teens’ health at risk.
The article claims that “conservatives” argued that the pill “was an abortive tool,” but “scientists shot that premise down.” But scientists never “shot down” the premise that Plan B can be abortifacient. Scientific literature “lists eleven possible modes of action for emergency contraception, seven of which can be abortifacient, that is, designed to prevent the implantation or survival of the embryo” (USCCB Comments to the FDA).
The article concedes that Plan B inhibits “implantation of a fertilized egg.” But how deceptive to speak of a “fertilized egg” when it’s a week-old human embryo who’s attempting to implant! Preventing implantation causes the embryo to starve to death, a death that is just as final as that produced by an abortion weeks later. There’s no confusion among scientists and doctors on this. But manufacturers and promoters of IUDs and abortifacient drugs have deliberately sown public confusion by claiming that “conception” (by implication, life itself) occurs at implantation – so they can call their products “contraceptives.” Many women who would consider using birth control to prevent the onset of a new life, draw the line at killing a human life that is already a week old. Plan B promoters mislead women by implying it’s all the same.
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Rather than encouraging promiscuity with the false promise of Plan B, we must prompt more teens to try the morally sound and far safer “Plan C” of chastity.
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So in a play on semantics, pharmacists may still be forced to take part in killing babies. Because groups like Planned Parenthood will go after any pharmacists that refuses to sell Plan B. Even if the Senate version of the bill passes the State House.
It is important to note what is happening here in Georgia, because this same play on words may occur in other states. If the Senate version of the bill passes the House, I’m some will feel that pharmacists have been given a “right to choose”. When they really will not have much choice when it comes to the baby killing pills known as Plan B.
To clear this up, states are literally going to have to define the word “pregnant”. And define “abortion” as anything that ends someone being “pregnant”.
March 16th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
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March 17th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
RU486, the Killer That Keeps on Killing
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Abortion Pill Pr…
August 27th, 2006 at 12:46 am
President Bush Endorses Baby Starving “Plan B” Pill
In a political compromise with Democrats, President Bush has endorsed over the counter sales of the “Plan B” pill. I’ve detailed how this pill actually does kill some babies, by starving them to death in the womb, in a previous post…