Conscientious objection must be included in Equality Bill, Pharmacy Council says

The Pharmacy Council has warned that if the Equality Bill does not include a conscientious objection clause, it will have serious implications for the pharmacy profession.

In a statement on Thursday, the council said that the proposed law which aimed at preventing discrimination will in fact discriminate against pharmacists and other health professionals, “undermining their professional autonomy, moral convictions and moral integrity.”

The council said that because the bill does not include a conscientious objection clause, it prevented pharmacists from taking decisions based not only on science but also on ethical principles, which they said was inherent to the pharmacy profession and their conscience.

“The proposed articles seven and eight contemplate placing pharmacists into a conflict of conscience in relation to their legal obligations to render a professional service which goes against their conscience,” the council said.

The council said that acting against one's conscience undermined the pharmacists’ autonomy and their moral integrity.

“Moral integrity is the hallmark of the trust-based relationship between pharmacists and patients. Acting against one's conscience is in breach of the pharmacists' fundamental right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion as enshrined in our Constitution, in The European Convention of Human Rights and in the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights of the EU,” they said.

The council was also concerned by Articles 3 and 32, which they said rendered the proposed legalisation supreme over any other current legislation, future legislation, the Code of Ethics of the Pharmaceutical Profession and the Oath taken by pharmacists when they receive their licence.

“It is inconceivable that pharmacists would be obliged to render a professional service, which is in breach of the Oath they have pledged to adhere to.”

The council, therefore, is against Article 32 and strongly urged that it be scrapped from the Equality Bill. They also said that it was imperative that a conscientious objection clause was included in the bill.

“The clause must include a proviso stating that patients are informed of any conscientious objection in a timely manner and that the State should make provisions to ensure access to lawful health services to protect patients' rights,” the council said.