One difference would be that pharmacists and women’s clinic workers enter that profession with the knowledge that they will be expected to, y’know, dispense medicines and provide women’s health services. If providing those services is against one’s religion, one should, obviously, not enter that profession. My usual example is that of an Orthodox Jew or Hindu expecting not to be fired for refusing to handle burgers at a McDonalds.

I agree that your doctor shouldn’t try to “force” birth control on you, but the situation isn’t parallel: you are not obliged to take it, whereas in cases where pharmacists won’t provide birth control that has already been prescribed, the woman cannot just take it from behind the counter.

Likewise, even if BC has harmful effects on some women, this is no reason to stop others who want it from getting it.

It’s not about obliging everyone to take birth control and have abortions. It’s about the choice to begin, end, or carry to term a pregnancy.

(Your other points have already been dealt with by other commenters, I believe.)

Also, you are making a sweeping generalization when you say that, because of your limited research, abortion and contraception are bad for women. There are women who are happy with their decision to have an abortion or contraceptives, and there are women who regret that decision. Everybody’s different. Pro-choicers don’t advocate for anything more than the right for women to make their own personal decisions about family planning. I would rather a woman regret having an abortion or using contraceptives than not having a say in the matter at all. Regret is a possible consequence of making a choice. If you don’t want to ever regret anything again, simply let someone else make your decisions for you. Is that what you want for women? That might save women from regretting anything, but it completely strips away their humanity.

The petition: http://www.hillpac.com/action/hhspetition/

I found it at Shakesville via this post:

http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/07/this-is-what-leadership-looks-like.html

With the provision about hiring included in this proposal, any talk about this proposal simply preventing medical staff from being forced is invalid. Don’t want to provide services which are part of a particular job? Apply for a job where those services aren’t an expected part of the job.

If someone is a landlord, they either follow fair housing laws or they should get into another line of work.

In medicine there are plenty of areas where staff would never be asked to do anything related to birth control or abortions.

A rape victim who goes to the hospital should not ever be required to shop for someone who will provide emergency contraceptives. As a victim advocate I’ve been in the ER when rape victims have been offered EC and the choice to have or not have EC was totally up to the patient with no pressure applied either way.

If you would never choose an abortion or any form of birth control that is your right. Giving everyone their legal rights when it comes to abortion and birth control is not shoving it down your throat.

You say that medical personel will not coerce patients but then relate being presssured by doctors to make a birth control decision you didn’t want to make. That doesn’t disprove my point, it reinforces it.