Unknowingly participated in an abortion

[Black_Jaque]

Morally you are likely obliged to refuse to fill the prescription.

As for attempting to frustrate their filling it, such as tearing up the prescription - I don’t know? In doing so you would definitely have to face the legal heat for it, but I don’t know that there would be any eternal heat for such an act.

It would be theft, or so the charge could be. However, there is a hierarchy of moral law. So would it be licit to commit theft in order to save a life? But then there’s people who destroy abortion clinics, which seems over the top.

 

[jjb5985]

UKcatholicGuy:

St.BJLabre,

I’m going to be frank because I’m concerned for your soul. You MUST find another line of work. Trust in God. He will not punish you for striving for holiness. Nothing is worth having the stain of cooperating with an abortion on your soul. It is an excommunicable offense.

Oral contraceptives can indeed cause abortions by not allowing the newly-formed baby attach to the mother’s uterus. The new life is then flushed out. This is as much of an abortion as one performed at 7 months-- they both murder an innocent human life and cry out to God for justice. And while “the pill” may be used by some women for acne problems, do you really want to live with the tought that you could be helping them literally kill their children in utero? Most likely, the majority of the birth controll pill scripts you fill are not for acne. So you’re cooperating with an abortion by dispensing them. And selling condoms and other barrier methods is also cooperation with an intrinsic evil. It was once a noble practice to be a pharmacist, but in today’s culture of death, there are simply too many ways in which a pharmacist is asked to cooperate with evils like contraception and abortion. Get out of that job-- for your soul’s sake.

You need to meet with a priest-- a good, solid, orthodox priest-- and see if you have incurred excommunication. He can lift that through sacramental absolution. Don’t despair. Trust in God’s mercy. I will be praying for you.

I don’t have much authority to say what is right or wrong, but I’m not sure if what all you said is correct. First of all, he said he unknowingly did this, so that seems to contradict commiting a mortal sin. Secondly, birth control has other applications so he didn’t know that is what she was using it for.

As far as selling condoms being sinful, read this by Jimmy Akin.
jimmyakin.org/2005/08/selling_bad_stu.html

Now, although I disagree with artificial birth control and condom usage for the purpose of birth control, if having to sell these things means no one can be a pharmacist, then we won’t have a way to get medecine. (without changing the system) If we rely on non Catholic pharmacists, we are just asking other people to do a “sinful job” by being in what you would consider a sinful occupation. If he were to personally not give out birth control but send the people to someone else to get it, he has “helped in the sin” just the same only one extra step has been added. So, it is important to find out whether there really is sin involved or not by doing one’s job. Of course, losing a job isn’t as bad as losing one’s soul, but one shouldn’t lose their job unless they know pretty much FOR SURE what they are doing is sinful.

Once again, I can’t speak with authority over whether there is sin or not, but I agree the best thing to do for this situation and for future situations is to talk to a good priest or maybe write to ask an apologetic. Don’t rely too much on things people on this board are going to say because we can only give opinions.

 

[birdsofdawn]

Hello,

I hope it’s okay to dig this thread up again; it came up in a search regarding a problem I am having.
I, like the OP, work in a pharmacy, though as a technician, not a pharmacist (so I don’t have the option of opening my own pharmacy, eg.) I have already spoken with my boss about Plan B, which I don’t have to cooperate with in any material way at all. This weekend, however, I was reading Peter Kreeft’s How to Win the Culture War, and he focuses a lot on the incredible, staggering issue of abortion, and it gave me time to re-think the issues. As mentioned, hormonal mixtures often prescribed to prevent conception may prevent implantation, which is what the Vatican decided was the reason no Catholic could cooperate in dispensing Plan B or similar pills. I don’t doubt at all that they can be used for other things (I have a very good, very orthodox unmarried friend who is on Alesse to control otherwise very painful ovarian cysts), but the thought that my cooperation in dispensing hormonal birth control is leading in some way to abortions is very upsetting to me. I could request to not have to dispense any of it, or, failing that, to just do one shift a week as a cashier, so I ask posters both to pray for me.

Thank you.

 

[thistle]

I work in a pharmacy and the other day I filled a script for birth control pills. I thought that it was just that until later I found out that the woman who was taking the pills was actually prescribed Plan B by her doctor and, since our pharmacy didn’t have any, the pharmacist filled it with a certain kind of birth control instead (which when u take 3 or 4 at the same time has the same effect as Plan B). My question is, if I ever come across a script for Plan B again, would I be justified in breaking the law in order to stop the woman from getting it? I could just not participate, but it seems to me like I have an opportunity to possibly save the baby’s life and I would be culpable if i didn’t do something. Thanks for the help…

NO. If you go that route what’s the next step? Burning down an abortion clinic?
Find another job instead.