Today, U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) joined her colleagues Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) and Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT-01) to introduce the Pharmacist Conscience Protection Act, legislation that would strengthen the rights of pharmacists who object to abortion on moral, religious, conscience, or medical judgment grounds.

Under the bill, pharmacists holding religious or moral beliefs opposed to abortion would be enabled to bring a private right of action for appropriate relief in court if they are threatened with or experience discrimination or punishment for refusing to participate in the filling of a prescription intended to cause an abortion.

Reps. Harshbarger, Carter, and Moore deem this legislation both timely and necessary due to the Biden administration’s July 2022 release of "guidance" to more than 60,000 pharmacies nationwide by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR). This recent OCR guidance is seen by many as a thinly veiled attempt to coerce pharmacists to violate their personal, religious, or moral conscience objections to abortion and prescribe abortion-inducing drugs out of fear of retaliation by the Biden administration.

“I will not stand by and let the Biden administration use an extremist and unlawful agenda of taxpayer-funded abortions through birth to persecute pharmacists who have religious, moral, or conscience objections to the intentional killing of unborn children through abortion. As a licensed pharmacist for over 30 years, I have always followed the precept of first doing no harm. I will always stand-up for the lives of unborn children and defend health practitioners who believe the same," said Congresswoman Harshbarger. “Pharmacists and other health professionals should never bepunished for their moral beliefs in protecting life or be threatened or forced to facilitate abortions against such beliefs. I call on the Biden administration to immediately withdraw this outrageous assault on pharmacists’ conscience rights and to stop treating the Constitution like its own political chew-toy!”

"Your first amendment rights don't go away when you put on the white coat," said Congressman Carter. "This legislation will ensure that pharmacists are able to make the medical decisions that are best for the health of the mother, the life of the child, and the integrity of their practice without threats from non-medically trained bureaucrats. Medical decisions should be made between doctors, pharmacists, and patients- not the federal government."

"Conscience protections prevent discrimination and ensure Americans in the healthcare sector are not forced to violate their beliefs. As the Biden administration takes steps to undermine the conscience rights of pharmacists, I am proud to join Congressman Buddy Carter and Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger in introducing the Pharmacist Conscience Protection Act which would ensure pharmacists can refuse to provide abortion drugs without repercussion. Pharmacists, along with other medical and healthcare workers, should never be coerced into participating in abortions, and this bill is an important step in supporting medical professionals who have deep convictions about practicing life-affirming medicine," said Congressman Moore.

Supporting Organizations: Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Family Research Council, March for Life, Americans United for Life, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Bill text can be found HERE.

Background:

A series of current federal laws, including the Weldon Amendment and Church Amendments, offer some protections to pharmacists and pharmacies from being forced against their will to provide drugs given for the purpose of causing abortion. However, these laws are limited in that aggrieved individuals must submit a complaint to the federal government for enforcement — usually to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights — which may or may not act upon the complaint.

By providing a private right to action, the Pharmacist Conscience Protection Actbolsters current federal laws by giving pharmacists direct legal remedies to make their own case in court for appropriate relief, instead of having to rely solely on the Biden administration 

Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger is a proud member of the Republican Doctors Caucus.

Original source can be found here.