Michigan Pharmacist Refused to Disclaimer Miscarriage Medication, Citing Religious Beliefs

A Michigan woman said she was denied a medication for a miscarriage by a pharmacist at a supermarket who refused to fill the prescription because of her religious beliefs, then declined to help her obtain the drug elsewhere.

The pharmacist was a longtime employee at the supermarket chain, Meijer, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

The woman, Rachel Peterson, 35, of Ionia, Mich., Has become pregnant earlier this year, but has no longer had a heartbeat. She and her husband headed to a family member in Michigan, to decompress.

Her doctor prescribed her misoprostol, a drug that would make the miscarriage process happen faster and could help her avoid an invasive surgical procedure.

"It was conveyed to me by my doctor that if things were not progressed in the next couple of days, that I was instructed to start the medication," Ms. Peterson said. The days came and went, and still nothing.

On July 1, she and her husband were in the Petoskey, Mich., When she said she was getting a call from the pharmacist, who "said that a good Catholic in good conscience fill this medication. "

Ms. Peterson, who works in a hospital as a cardiovascular stenographer, said she was "baffled." She has lived in Michigan, she said, and had never been denied a prescribed medication.

She explained to Richard Kalkman, that it was not longer viable and that it was necessary to complete the miscarriage safely.

But "he did not believe me," Ms. Peterson said, and told her that he "could not support an abortion."

He also refused to speak to another pharmacist or to the manager, she said.

"I wanted a baby; I did not want to lose a baby, "Ms. Peterson said. "I felt ashamed, and I thought, for my safety, to be able to have children again, this was an important step to take. And he denied that to me. "

Mr. Kalkman could not be reached for comment.

Christina Fecher, a spokeswoman for Meijer, said in a statement that Mr. Kalkman "has not been employed by Meijer since early July 2018." The statement continued, "While we are not going to have any customer experience, we apologize for any customer experience. that does not align with our core values. "

Ms. Fecher said that pharmacists at Meijer who decline to fill a prescription for religious reasons to be satisfied by another pharmacist in the store violation of our process. "

It is also a violation of the guidelines set forth by the Michigan Pharmacists Association, a professional organization of which Mr. Kalkman was not a member. But Michigan law does not bar the idea of ​​conscientious objection, said Larry Wagenknecht, chief executive of the organization.

Dr. Sarah Horvath, a family planning fellow at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, described miscarriage as a "painful and messy process."

Oftentimes, she said, women choose to use misoprostol because it is more autonomous, discreet and self-directed than other methods.

"Some women derive empowerment from a situation where they might otherwise feel helpless," she said.

When Ms. Peterson realized she was not going to receive the medication at the pharmacy in Petoskey, she called the Meijer pharmacy in her hometown, and connected with a pharmacist who helped her fill her prescription that day. She and her husband cut their trip, and made half-hour drive back home.

She reported the episode to a Meijer Manager, and told the regional director of the company, who said the company would be investigating.

But nobody from corporate contact her, she said, so she approached the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a complaint on Tuesday.