Pharmacists' beliefs about abortion and RU-486

The author conducted a survey of pharmacists' beliefs regarding abortion and mifepristone (RU-486) to determine pharmacists' perceptions of the ethical dilemmas posed by the use of abortifacients in the United States and to determine whether and how these ethical dilemmas affect practice. The sample was nonrandom and included religiously oriented pharmacists from a variety of practice settings, approximately two-thirds of whom were women. The results indicated a plurality of beliefs about abortion rarely evident in the public debate. Although the sample supported pharmacists' right to refuse to dispense abortifacients, slightly more than half (51%) of the respondents stated that they themselves would not refuse to dispense abortifacients. Most respondents (56%) believed that abortion should remain a legal option, with slightly fewer respondents (50%) supporting the position that RU-486 should be made available in the United States. Support for abortion was proportionate to the gravity of the reason underlying the decision to abort, with the sample tending to avoid absolutistic positions. These findings tend to dispel the stereotypes and myths regarding abortion beliefs in that two-thirds of the sample were Catholic and 96% of the sample rated religion as extremely or somewhat significant in their life.