February 17, 2022

Nurse Sues CVS after being Fired for Refusal to Prescribe Abortifacients

photo credit: Mike Mozart / Flickr
A former nurse who worked at CVS is suing the company for firing her after she refused to prescribe contraceptives that can work as abortifacients.

Robyn Strader worked as a nurse practitioner at a CVS Pharmacy in Keller, Texas for 6.5 years. During that time, she refused to prescribe birth control medication because it can often function as an abortifacient. Emergency contraception medication attempts to prevent the egg from implanting in the mother's womb. If that egg has been fertilized, it is a human life. Preventing that egg from implanting will abort that life.

The First Liberty Institute is representing Strader in her lawsuit. The organization sent a letter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on her behalf. According to the letter, Strader asked for religious accommodation before she was hired, to which CVS agreed. “[f]or the next 6.5 years,” the letter explains, “CVS accommodated Ms. Strader with no issues. On the rare occasions someone requested contraception, Ms. Strader referred them to the other nurse practitioner at her location or to another CVS MinuteClinic two miles away.”

The letter goes on to state that CVS changed its position in 2021, announcing that “all nurses must perform essential services related to pregnancy prevention.” CVS's definition of "essential services" included the prescription of emergency contraception medication.

“I am a Christian and longtime member of a Baptist Church,” Strader said. “I believe that all human life is created in God’s image and should be protected. For this reason, I cannot participate in facilitating an abortion or participate in facilitating contraceptive use that could prevent the implantation of an embryo, cause an abortion, or contribute to infertility.”