Woman denied medication to end her pregnancy by pharmacist
A woman, who is on the verge of suffering a miscarriage, claims a pharmacist would not sell her prescription medication to end her pregnancy “because of his ethical beliefs”.
Arizona mum Nicole Mone took to Facebook to share her story. The devastated mum wrote on Friday that two months ago she found out she was pregnant.
Ms Mone wrote that after a previous miscarriage a doctor had been monitoring her weekly but unfortunately she was informed on Tuesday her baby would not survive.
“The doctor gave me two options D&C (dilatation and curettage – a surgery used to treat miscarriage) or prescription medication,” she wrote.
“I opted for prescription.”
The mum went to US pharmacy Walgreens on Thursday to pick up her medication but claims a pharmacist would not give her the medication.
“I stood at the mercy of this pharmacist explaining my situation in front of my seven-year-old and five customers standing behind only to be denied because of his ethical beliefs,” Ms Mone wrote.
“I get it we all have our beliefs. But what he failed to understand is this isn’t the situation I had hoped for, this isn’t something I wanted. This is something I have zero control over.”
Ms Mone wrote the pharmacist had “no idea” what it was like to want to deliver a child but be unable to do so. She added she left in tears, “ashamed and feeling humiliated”.
The mum wrote she shared her story so no other “vulnerable and already suffering” women had to go through what she experienced in the store.
Her post has more than 20,000 shares and 31,000 likes with many offering sympathies for her pain and the loss of her child.
“How profoundly horrible,” one woman wrote.
“So sorry for your loss and sorry this happened to you,” another wrote.
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Ms Mone added on Saturday a Walgreens staff member notified her via email that her medication was available across town.
The woman claims she had spoken to the store manager “who did not seem happy” about the incident and filed a complaint to the Arizona Board of Pharmacy.
Walgreens told news website WTSP in a statement the store had reached out to Ms Mone and apologised for how the situation was handled.
But it is within the store’s guidelines for pharmacists to refuse service “for which they have a moral objection”.
“At the same time, they are also required to refer the prescription to another pharmacist or manager on duty to meet the patient’s needs in a timely manner,” the statement read.
Arizona is also one of six states in the US – including Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi and South Dakota – that have laws allowing a pharmacist to refuse to dispense emergency contraceptive drugs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
