Row breaks out over availability of abortifacients in Irish Pharmacies

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Human Life International Ireland (HLII) came under attack in the pharmacist’s magazine, the ‘Irish Pharmacist’, following its recent survey of Irish Pharmacies on the issue of dispensing abortifacients such as the morning after pill. 

The HLI executive director Patrick Mc Crystal has responded to the criticism in the ‘Irish Pharmacist’ and has issued a press release which is set out below.

Having just surveyed 3000 pharmacies on dispensing abortifacient "morning-after" pills, Human Life International Ireland has rebutted accusations of "Catholic militancy", "fundamentalism" and "totalitarianism" and "extreme" in the March edition of "Irish Pharmacist" magazine.   (greencrosspublishing.ie) See rebuttal here.

 

Responding to criticism in February's edition of "Irish Pharmacist" , Patrick McCrystal, Executive Director of Human Life International (Ireland) outlined that many of their supporters want to know what pharmacies do not dispense abortifacients. See criticism article here.

 

In his article, Mr McCrystal described how he ceased dispensing abortifacients as a pharmacist when he realised the implications of the loss of human life through the dispensing of these life destroying drugs.

 

He stated: "As a pharmacist, I held that if a woman conceived and presented in my pharmacy, I had two patients to consider not one. There is a silent holocaust countrywide despite the clean clinical image projected."

 

"Whilst many pharmacists I know are consciencious and hard-working, if human life is sacred there were uncomfortable realities as a pharmacist I simply had to face, realities that transcended mere professional ethics."  As a result, Mr McCrystal was unemployed for three years due to his ethical stance.

 

Further clinical and ethical considerations are our dedicated website at www.positivepharmacy.org, which is attracting international attention. This is a big issue for pharmacist's way beyond our Irish shores.

Of the 40 pharmacy responses, only two indicated they did not dispense the abortifacient morning after pill.   All dispensed the everyday oral contraceptive pill. However, several pharmacies indicated their willingness to explore the matter further.

"If even one pharmacist considers taking a different path, it will have been worth it." said Mr McCrystal.

Pharmacists and all healthcare professionals are thrust into the frontline of a moral quagmire that university clinical training does not equip them to deal with.

For more information Contact: Patrick Mc Crystal (BSc Pharmacy) tel 087 2305709
Human Life International Ireland