A woman who suffered a miscarriage was refused vital medication by a pharmacy in Petoskey, Michigan, because the pharmacist cited religious objections, a letter of complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims.

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In July, Rachel Peterson was prescribed misoprostol after suffering a miscarriage. The drug, which can be used in medical abortions or to treat stomach ulcers, was crucial to prevent her from having serious complications and invasive surgery.

The prescription was made out for a Meijer store in Petoskey where Peterson had been vacationing, the letter states. But as she was leaving to pick it up, she was phoned by one of the store’s pharmacists, Richard Kalkman, who said that he couldn’t “in good conscience” fill the prescription because he was “a good Catholic male” and believed she wanted to use it to end her pregnancy.

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Peterson explained that her doctor had said her fetus was not viable and she was not using the medication because she wanted an abortion. She claims Kalkman responded by saying that he couldn’t trust her on her word.

Peterson also claims Kalkman refused to pass her on to another member of staff or allow her to speak to his supervisor. Eventually she had to drive three and half hours to have the prescription filled at a different Meijer store. She praised the employee that eventually helped her, but said the experience was traumatic. “When you’re at one of the lowest moments of your life, you don’t expect this sort of demeaning treatment,” she said in a statement.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rachel Peterson with her husband Robby. Photograph: American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan

On Tuesday, the ACLU sent a letter of complaint to Meijer demanding a clear company-wide policy that compels pharmacists to fill all prescriptions regardless of religious beliefs. The organization’s Michigan policy strategist, Merissa Kovach, said Peterson was “clearly a victim of sex discrimination”, arguing that “had the customer been a man prescribed the same medication, that is also commonly used to treat ulcers, the pharmacist would have filled it”.

Meijer, which owns 250 stores in the midwest, said in a statement that Kalkman’s employment ended shortly after the incident but would not say whether he was fired.

A Meijer spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press that “while we cannot comment on any specific customer matter, we apologize for any customer experience that does not align with our core values”.

They said the store recognizes “the right of a pharmacist to abstain from filling a prescription based on his or her religious beliefs, but the pharmacist is required to have another Meijer pharmacist fill the prescription or, if no other pharmacist is available at that time, to transfer the script to another pharmacy convenient to the customer”.