By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
SYDNEY, Australia, October 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic pharmacist Trevor Dal Broi, who owns and runs East Griffith Pharmacy in New South Wales, has decided to stop selling any form of artificial contraception because of his deeply held religious beliefs.
The pharmacist removed condoms from his store several weeks ago and has advised women seeking oral contraceptive pills or the “morning after” pill to go to other pharmacies in the area.
“As a practicing Catholic, it is my obligation to accept the official teaching of the Catholic Church against the use of artificial contraception,” Mr. Dal Broi told The Sunday Telegraph.
When asked to dispense an oral contraceptive pill, Dal Broi said he “will ask the lady to sit at our counseling desk where I explain that there is a leaflet in the box regarding our pharmacy policy on the pill.
“It explains that I accept the teachings of the Catholic Church against the use of artificial contraception, and asks the lady to respect my view on the use of artificial contraception and have it filled elsewhere next time if it is being taken for contraceptive purposes.”
New South Wales Deputy Premier and Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt told the Sydney Morning Herald there was no legislation that compels a pharmacist to stock or supply any particular type of medicine or therapeutic device. “But health professionals know the very important role that condoms play in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases,” she said. “People in Griffith will make their own choices about where to shop.”
Pharmacy Guild of Australia national secretariat spokesman Greg Turnbull said Griffith, with a population of about 16,000, has a number of pharmacies and people therefore do not have to go to Mr. Dal Broi's.
“As far as condoms are concerned, people can buy them almost anywhere – in supermarkets, in hotel rest rooms and in petrol stations – so, really, a pharmacist choosing not to sell them is no big deal,” he said, adding that “pharmacists, like anyone, are entitled to hold ethical, religious or moral views.”
Mr. Dal Broi's decision to remove contraceptives from his store highlights the debate that is taking place in many countries over the conflict between a pharmacist's rights of conscience and religion, and the laws that require pharmacies to fill prescriptions for contraceptives which, in the case of hormonal contraceptives, may cause abortion.
In the US, a pro-life pharmacy run by Catholics in Virginia has also refused to sell contraceptive products.
Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy in Chantilly opened in October last year with a blessing from Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde, who praised the pharmacy for allowing families to “shop in an environment where their faith is not compromised.”
The pharmacy's manager, Robert Semler, said that the struggle of other pharmacists trying to work according to their religious beliefs makes him “grateful to be able to practice within the umbrella of Divine Mercy Care where my conscience will never be violated and my faith does not have to be 'checked at the door' each morning.”
Bob Laird, the executive director of Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy, told CNA last year that people are choosing not to use birth control and are instead selecting other options.
“Birth control is not good health care. Birth control makes healthy reproductive organs sick and prevents the marital act from completion. This is not healthcare. Birth control is a lifestyle choice,” Laird said, adding that, “Many [people] reject such choices for moral and health reasons.”