Bioethics and More!: Authentically Pro Life Pharmacists: Good Job Guys!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Authentically Pro Life Pharmacists: Good Job Guys!

Here in the Delaware Valley, we have probably grown accustomed to the estimate that 55 million pre born Americans have been aborted since the infamous Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton Supreme Court decisions, but Pharmacists for Life International estimates 308,000,000 pre born babies have actually been "killed by all means: chemical, mechanical and surgical abortion since 1973." By the way we act, it would be easy for others to get the impression that we think of this as no big deal....

Don't we have an acute responsibility with regard to chemical abortions? Planned Parenthood itself identifies at least seven hormonal contraceptive manufacturers as headquarted in the Northern Philly suburbs and Central/North Jersey:

G.D. Searle / Pharmacia of North Peapack, NJ
Gynetics Inc of Lawrenceville, NJ
Merck of Whitehorse, NJ
Ortho-McNeil of Raritan, NJ
Pfizer of Morris Plains, NJ
Warner-Chilcott of Rockaway, NJ
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals of St Davids, PA

The Diocese of Trenton specifically alerts employees, retirees, and directors of Merck, Pfizer, and Wyeth, to check for matching gifts for the Bishop's Annual Appeal. In material recently sent to my home for an Archdiocesan Appeal, Merck and Pfizer were again listed as providers of matching gifts. I suspect that the danger of scandal would preclude this from being done for Planned Parenthood associates, and I struggle to see the difference.

Of all physicians in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, only eight in Jersey and only 38 in Pennsylvania have been identified as "NFP only." That leaves LOTS of others to prescribe contraceptives. The situation is even more dire with regard to pharmacists. As per the testimony of pro life pharmacist Mike Koelzer:

"A few years after working in the business, I got a call one day from my cousin. She asked me if I was aware birth control pills could cause early abortions. I had been selling birth control pills daily and had never given this a thought....it became increasingly clear to me what I had to do....

"six years later, ...the Washington Post did an article on our pharmacy after finding our pharmacy on a website that listed a half dozen

pharmacies across the nation that shared my views*

[Emphasis and asterisk added. Yes, you read that correctly. Only a "half dozen" [or so] in the entire nation do not provide hormonal contraceptives! See the below listing based on info from Pharmacists for Life International.]

....

"I encourage you to give encouragement to others. You must be the whisper of God to others. You must give encouragement to someone who has taken a stand. If you see someone in the newspaper who has done something good with his or her business, it is up to you to e-mail that person or call and say 'Good Job'! Do you know that you might be the only person doing that?" (True Account of a Pharmacist Who Gave Up Selling BIRTH CONTROL Pills Because They Kill Human Life, Immaculate Heart Messenger, Jan - March 2009).

In what strikes me as an affront to authentically pro life pharmacies, I see lots of parish bulletins with ads for other pharmacies (including pharmacies in supermarkets and department stores).