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standard remains; every single citizen of this country is free to determine how they will earn their living within the parameters of their personal beliefs and religious rules. The one thing that these same people are not free to do is impose their religious beliefs on others.

Now to the crux of the matter does an employee have the right to refuse to perform any part of their assigned duties because of personal convictions or religious beliefs? The answer is absolutely and unequivocally NO, they do not have this right. The consequences for refusing to perform duties for which you are paid is the loss of employment. This is true no matter what your employment situation is, whether pharmacist, bank teller, waitress, or military personnel. You are hired and paid to perform a job and your employer assumes that you will undertake the duties of that job, all of them. When you agree to the terms of employment, there is usually a list of responsibilities and duties and generally not a clause that says "except for those things that go against your principles". While it is illegal to discriminate against a person because of their religion, it is not illegal to refuse to hire a person if their personal convictions will interfere with their ability to carry out the duties of the position.

If you are a private business owner, you may refuse to dispense specific pharmaceuticals including birth control and the morning after pill. It is your business and your right to decide based upon your personal religious beliefs and convictions what you will sell. If it is your conviction that to interfere in procreation is wrong than it is well within your right to not sell prophylactics, whether over the counter or by prescription. Advertising a pharmacy based upon religious principles is certain to attract a specific clientele that subscribes to similar beliefs as you. As a business owner, you would be free to hire a person who would agree to perform the duties of the position of pharmacist, which could include not dispensing prophylactics or advice on their use to any customer.

There is one other issue that should be undertaken in this discussion and that is one of ethics and commitment. The pharmacist follows a Code of Ethics and takes an oath, similar to the oath a doctor takes upon graduating from school to take up their profession. Nowhere in this oath does it state that the Pharmacist should place their values above those of the patient. Nowhere in this oath does it state that

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