Religious Restrictions on your Medical Care

Pharmacist refusals to fill legally valid prescriptions for contraception constitute a serious erosion of reproductive rights and impede women’s access to critical health care.

The National Women’s Law Center’s Pharmacy Refusal Project is compiling a register of pharmacy refusal incidents to document the scope of the problem. If you or someone you know has been denied |a prescription for emergency contraception or another contraceptive, please contact Rachel Vogelstein at rvogelstein@nwlc.org.

The National Women’s Law Center (nwlc.org) also has a brochure —called ASKI—suggesting how to find out what religious or moral beliefs a hospital or health-care provider might have that could limit your access to health care. It’s worth asking such questions as: “My mom doesn’t want artificial nutrition and hydration—will you honor her wishes?” “Will my health insurance pay for my birth control pills?” “Does this doctor support saving my eggs before I have chemo?” and more.