Meijer: Pharmacist who denied miscarriage drug, citing religion, no longer an employee

Kristen Jordan Shamus | Detroit Free Press

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DETROIT – A pharmacist at a Meijer store who is accused of denying medication to a miscarrying woman because of his religious beliefs is no longer an employee, the company said Thursday.

"Meijer strives to treat its pharmacy customers with dignity and respect," company spokeswoman Christina Fecher told the Free Press in an email. "The pharmacist identified by recent reports has not been employed by Meijer since early July 2018. While we cannot comment on any pharmacy customer matter, we apologize for any customer experience that does not align with our core values."

The Free Press reported Wednesday the story of Rachel Peterson, a 35-year-old Ionia woman who was about 11 weeks into her first pregnancy in July when she had a miscarriage.

She tried to fill a prescription for a drug called misoprostol (brand name Cytotec) to help her complete that miscarriage. But she alleges a pharmacist at the Petoskey Meijer store told her he would not dispense the medicine because of his personal religious views. He also refused to transfer the prescription to another pharmacy.

More: Michigan pharmacist refuses medicine to woman having miscarriage

"He said that he was a good Catholic male and that he couldn’t in good conscience give me this medication because it’s used for abortions, and he could not prescribe that," Peterson said.

"When I divulged to him that the fetus was no longer viable, and that ... I needed to progress the situation further, he said, 'Well, that’s your word and I don’t believe you,' and he refused to fill it."

Misoprostol can be used to prevent stomach ulcers and also can be used to induce labor during pregnancy, to aid in the completion of a miscarriage and in the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. When combined with another drug, it can be used to induce an abortion.

Her doctor prescribed the misoprostol to ensure that Peterson would complete the miscarriage and wouldn't develop an infection.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan sent a letter Tuesday on Peterson's behalf to Meijer, saying what the pharmacist did was discriminatory and violated the state's public accommodation laws.

"I think it’s very clear in this case that had Rachel been a man seeking this exact same medication for stomach ulcers, she wouldn’t have been turned away for the same reason," said Merissa Kovach, a policy strategist for the ACLU of Michigan, told the Free Press. "So Rachel was denied this based on the personal beliefs of this pharmacist and then also because she’s a woman."

Fecher said earlier this week that the company's policy follows guidelines established by the American Pharmacists Association policy manual.

"We recognize 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," she said.

Peterson told the Free Press that she finally was able to get the medication she needed, but that she needed to drive 3½ hours to a Meijer store in her hometown of Ionia to get it.

Her reason for coming forward with her story, she said, was to ensure that action is taken so no other woman has to endure the emotional pain she experienced when she was denied medicine she needed at such a vulnerable time in her life.

"I just want people to know that I’m doing this to make sure that people do not have to encounter the same situation that I did," Peterson said. "There’s no greed associated with this. It’s just a basic human right. He is a medical professional, and he took an oath to take care of patients, and he failed to do that."

Follow Kristen Jordan Shamus on Twitter: @kristenshamus.