The patient who asked me to dispense the Vicodin to her subsequently asked for her prescription back. In this case I declined to return it, had a talk with her, and sent her to the ER for an alternative. It was a situation in which I knew what the right thing to do was, and wouldn't have cared if the law obligated me to do otherwise. I would imagine that people with religious/moral convictions against contraception/abortion feel the same way when asked to dispense something that they feel is not right. That said, anyone who took a prescription for birth control, emergency contraception, or abortion meds away from a patient and refused to give them back would get in deep doo-doo.
Another issue is that many people feel that dispensing certain medications would facilitate acts that they viewed as immoral, and thereby make them a participant. Abortion meds are an example. But, perhaps one that will strike more people is assisted suicide. In Oregon, the "Death With Dignity Act" specifically allows providers to choose whether or not they are willing to participate in the process. Many of us who would be willing to dispense abortion meds would be unwilling to dispense for the purposes of assisted suicide.
I guess we have to respect the judgement of our peers even though we may not agree with it. Now, an employer isn't under the same obligation to be so respectful. They can and do terminate employees for refusing to dispense when company policy has set standards. Sadly, I have seen pharmacists at Walgreens who are actually afraid to refuse narcotic prescriptions and early refills for cash because of corporate influence. the background on that is that a couple of years ago a pharmacist refused to fill a cancer patient's pain medications and a big stink was made on the local news. In this case, I view the corporation as infringing on the pharmacist's ability to provide good care.
