“Here in Massachusetts, we will always protect access to reproductive care, including abortion,” Governor Healey stated in the memo. “At a time when states are rushing to ban medication abortion and some pharmacies are irresponsibly restricting access to it, we are reminding Massachusetts pharmacies that they have an obligation to provide critical reproductive health medications, including Mifepristone. It’s safe, effective, and legal.”
Regulations from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy require "all Massachusetts licensed pharmacies or pharmacy departments to 'maintain on the premises at all times a sufficient variety and supply of medicinal chemicals and preparations which are necessary to compound and dispense commonly prescribed medications in accordance with the usual needs of the community.'"
Gov. Healy's administration is interpreting the regulation to include abortion-inducing drugs as "necessary to meet the usual needs of the community." This includes mifepristone, misoprostol, emergency contraception, and contraceptive prescriptions.
Healy's interpretation clearly interferes with the conscience rights of pharmacists. Abortion ends the life of an innocent child. A pharmacist that objects to abortion should not be required to participate in it.
Mifepristone is the first drug in the abortion pill regimen. It kills an unborn child by inhibiting the flow of oxygen and nutrients to a child. Misoprostol is taken after the child has died by asphyxiation or starvation to induce labor and remove the dead child from the mother's womb.
"Emergency contraception" such as Plan B has the potential to cause abortion as well. Contraceptive methods taken after sex can end a pregnancy by preventing a fertilized embryo from implanting in the mother's womb. Because a child is alive from the moment of fertilization, a drug that prevents that child from implanting in the mother's womb can cause the death of an innocent child.
