06:09 PM PST on Sunday, March 12, 2006

Associated Press

SEATTLE - The Washington State Board of Pharmacy is considering a proposal that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions like emergency contraception on moral, religious or ethical grounds.

Backers like Rod Shafer, executive director of the Washington State Pharmacy Association, argue that pharmacists should have the right to decline work that conflicts with their beliefs as long as they respect the patient.

Abortion-rights advocates counter that pharmacists are bound by state laws to dispense prescribed medications regardless of their personal convictions. The only legal alternative would be if another pharmacist at the same facility could take over, said Nancy Sapiro, with the Northwest Women's Law Center.

She added that asking patients to find another pharmacy is especially problematic in rural areas where options are limited.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, has sent the pharmacy board a letter opposing the proposal. At a public hearing in Kent last Friday, most of the more than 100 people who showed up spoke out in favor of it.

Seventeen states are currently considering measures that have "pharmacist refusal" or "conscience clauses" in them, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Pharmacy boards in Wyoming, Nevada, North Carolina and Massachusetts have already said pharmacists don't have such rights.