In a moment of brilliance Manzullo says:
?You can?t bring in another pharmacist in a small town,? he said. ?You?ve got to put them on call and it costs a lot of money to carry a beeper on them.?
It costs a lot of money to carry a beeper on them? Yeah, if this was the 1970s, but that isn’t even the point. Pharmacies that don’t wish to stock a particular contraceptive are not required to dispense the contraceptive.
The pharmacist in question appears to be unable to understand the very basic point. Given he owns four pharmacies, it’s hard to figure how he believes that he has to dispense the contraceptives in questions–if he doesn’t want to dispense them, he has the choice not to order them.
Pharmacist Luke D. Vander Bleek, who owns four pharmacies in Whiteside and DeKalb counties, told the committee he would not own a pharmacy or practice in Illinois if he is forced to be involved in what he considers the destruction of human life.
I hope Vander Bleek had a nice trip out to DC, but the reality is that all he has to do is not order contraceptives he doesn’t want to dispense.
The Governor should send Manzullo a nice bouquet though, since the Governor’s position has 80% support in national opinion polls. The more social conservatives complain, the more Rod gets good publicity.
Adding to the level of bizarreness is that Vander Bleek says he’s a strong Roman Catholic and chooses to sell oral contraceptives. Beyond the strange disconnect there, oral contraceptives taken prior to intercourse can still result in a fertilized egg that is then discharged–thus being the same thing as Plan B. For a guy saying he understands the science, he doesn’t seem to grasp the problem he’s created for himself.
It takes a lot of education to be a pharmacist. Why would people spend their time, effort, & money on a profession dispensing medications they disagree with? Obviously they need to close up shop & find something else to do.