Under Virginia law, the rights of conscience for doctors and nurses to object to participating in medical procedures to which they have moral, ethical, philosophical or religious objections are explicitly protected. Pharmicists rights are not.
Currently there are four states (Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia) that allow pharmacists and/or pharmacies to conscientiously object to dispensing hormonal contraception or abortifacients.
Virginia, however, does not allow freedom/rights of conscience for medical professionals, including pharmacists. In addition, Virginia is not one of the six states that have passed legislation to recognize pharmacists' rights of conscience, nor have laws yet been proposed to recognize such rights of conscience of pharmacists for the upcoming General Assembly session.
As a pharmacy student, on behalf of current and future pharmacists, I believe that our rights of conscience should be recognized under Virginia law. I ask all medical professionals and patients to join me in signing this petition asking the members of the Virginia General Assembly and our Governor to protect the rights of conscience of all medical professionals, including pharmacists.
We, the undersigned medical professionals and patients, petition the Virginia General Assembly to recognize rights of conscience for all medical professionals.
The conscience objection of a medical professional (doctor, nurse, pharmacist) to participate in a procedure deemed morally, ethically, religiously or philosophically offensive to the professional should never be the basis for any claim for damages, denial of employment, disciplinary action or any other recriminatory action.
Rights of conscience are principally inseparable from rights of speech and religious freedom that were clearly recognized by the founders of Virginia. We urge the Virginia General Assembly to explicitly recognize these rights for all medical professionals.
Thank you for considering our petition.
