The moral objections have come because Plan B, which is a high dose of a drug found in many regular birth-control pills, can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.
The potential abortifacient nature of the drug has caused some pharmacists to refuse to dispense the drug and according to Planned Parenthood, “women continue to encounter pharmacies which refuse to stock Plan B and individual employees who, for reasons of conscience, refuse to sell it.”
Catholic leaders in Connecticut have also resisted the drug and legislation promoting it, because the law forces health care providers to dispense the pill thereby violating their conscience. In May, the Connecticut state legislature passed a bill requiring all hospitals, including Catholic facilities, to offer Plan B to rape victims.
Deirdre McQuade, planning director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, also expressed concern about pharmacy employees, saying they should have the right to refuse to sell Plan B for reasons of conscience. Some states have passed laws to protect this right of refusal.
"Pregnancy is not a disease," McQuade said. "There is no absolute duty to dispense a non-therapeutic drug, but there is a basic civil right of conscience."