Pharmacist survives first round of testimony
By Kristen Holland
Contributing Writer
February 21, 2006
JEFFERSON CITY – The pharmaceutical debate between pro-life advocates and pro-choice diehards in the Missouri General Assembly continued Feb. 13 in the crowded Senate Lounge of the Capitol with an emotional testimony from Heather Williams, who is a member of First Baptist Church, Harvester, in St. Charles.
Williams, a former Target pharmacist who lost her job on Dec. 21, has become a lead spokeswoman in favor of Senate Bill 609, sponsored by Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, which will “protect the conscience rights of pharmaceutical professionals.”
A companion bill sponsored by Rep. Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, was passed by a House of Representatives committee Feb. 15 after Williams drove in from St. Charles to give additional testimony that morning. The bill was forwarded from the House Children and Families Committee to the office of House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, for his consideration.
“If there are only four states that have this bill, I would love to see Missouri join those ranks,” Williams said. “The greater good of losing this job would be if I could be used to get this bill through. It’s just an example of what will happen to more and more pharmacists while there is already a shortage of pharmacists.”
Surrounded by members of various newspapers and broadcast stations, with Crowell and her attorney, Ed Martin, Williams stated her case. She presented her beliefs and explained why she refused to dispense the morning-after pill, Plan B, to patients at the Target pharmacy.
“She did a great job,” said Susan Klein, legislative liaison from Missouri Right to Life and a member of Concord Baptist Church, Jefferson City. “She spoke the truth and she went to pharmacy school for five years. Whenever we want to know how a drug works, we go to our pharmacist and we trust what our pharmacist says to us about how that drug is going to work with our body and how that drug is going to work with other medications. We trust what they tell us and this drug can create an abortion, so she did a fantastic job.”
Williams became emotional during her testimony when Sen. Charles Wheeler, D-Kansas City, alleged that her actions are the result of her religious beliefs.
“Charlie Wheeler gets up there and says you shouldn’t bring your religious beliefs to work,” Martin said. “Tell that to someone working at a Baptist or Catholic hospital. Their faith is why they are serving the sick.”
Wheeler went on to claim that Williams was sent forth to testify by the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) and warned Kerry Messer, who serves as the MBC’s lobbyist with the Christian Life Commission, that “you’re liable in that particular situation if anything goes wrong.”
Crowell kept it on a senator-to-senator level by telling his older colleague that Williams was a witness who came forth on her own free will.
“I resent any comment that implies I put a puppet witness in front of this committee,” Crowell said.
During her testimony, Williams explained that she did not lose her job for refusing to provide the prescription. She stated that she was very upfront during her first interview with Target and was hired even after she told the management that she would not fill the Plan B prescriptions. The problem took place when Williams was asked by Target Corp. to sign a contract stating that if she refused to fill the Plan B pill, she would then refer the patient to another location where they could obtain the prescription which she refused to sign.
“I was almost fired in theory,” Williams said.
Williams, who worked at the Target store for five years, said she enjoyed her job, and she has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“She was a mile from her house, she could see her kids at lunch, it was the perfect situation,” Martin said. “Target was getting along fine. They had a great relationship with a fine worker, and based upon a negative campaign with Planned Parenthood, they changed their practices and that’s just disappointing.”
The bill was challenged Feb. 13 by members from opposing organizations and several individuals such as Rachel Pourchot of St. Louis. Pourchot said a pharmacist refused to fill her prescription while speaking in a loud voice which publicly embarrassed her in front of other customers. Pro-life advocates attending the hearing found her testimony peculiar after she presented senators with the details of her living situation involving her boyfriend and the types of contraceptives they use together.
Other opposing voices in attendance challenged the bill, comparing the Plan B pill to the birth control pill. However, pro-life supporters such as Williams differ in their educated beliefs on when life begins.
“Daily oral contraceptives prevent the production of eggs, thus not making fertilization possible,” said her father, Dr. Doug Mattox. “When, for multiple reasons, a failure in effectiveness of daily oral contraceptives occurs, an egg may be fertilized and then may attach itself to the uterine lining. The contraceptive does not interfere in this natural attachment process. Plan B strikes right at this process, preventing implantation.”
Martin said that to see Senate Bill 609 passed and signed would be satisfactory for his client’s case, but he added that he will not give up her rights in the situation.
“What is so demeaning about this is that we have said that allied health professionals, like pharmacists, are professionals in the healthcare provision,” he said. “And we ask them to be not just vending machines, we ask them to contribute with their judgment and their reason and their training.”
Williams does not view this incident as the end of her career. She does not think she will have a hard time finding another pharmaceutical position because of her beliefs.
“I would have to be careful where I would get a job because of Plan B,” she said. “There are two places I could think of where I could work. One would be in a hospital or the other with a mail order pharmacy.”
She is still shocked that her situation has gained much media attention, but looks forward to the day when the issue is resolved. After all of the Capitol-induced hysteria is but a memory, she said she would like to get back to spending time with her husband, Frank, and their three children.
“I think a lot of things go with what your opinion is professionally and how you are trained,” Williams said. “It all boils down to an issue of fairness. Doctors and nurses are not required to perform abortions and I’m just asking for the same fairness for pharmacists.”