Christians put God’s laws above man’s

It seems abortion advocates are having a hard time swallowing their own medicine these days.

Those who champion a woman’s right to choose abortion are now outraged that pharmacists refuse to prescribe “morning after” birth control pills for moral reasons.

Apparently the pro-choice mantra peddled by Planned Parenthood and others only applies to choices they happen to agree with; they can’t tolerate a pharmacist refusing to fill prescriptions based on personal beliefs.

This double standard is on display nationally, but most recently in the outskirts of Chicago. Luke Vander Bleek owns four pharmacies there, and he has chosen not to fill prescriptions for morning after pills. He believes they are akin to an abortion. He’s among several pharmacists defying a new state rule that threatens their licenses for denying customers any form of legal birth control.

I pray they and other pharmacists caught on this important ethical battleground stand fast.

Christians ought to obey laws and honor elected officials, whether we agree with everything they do or not. But when those officials and their laws clearly violate the laws of God, it’s time to stand our ground.

In the church’s formative years, the apostles were repeatedly warned to stop preaching about Jesus. Their message offended Jewish religious leaders, and the resulting ruckus rankled the Romans who ruled that society. Even in the face of severe threats and abuse, the Apostle Peter declared, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

This recent pharmacy flap highlights the arrogance of those who frequently dismiss Christians as intolerant. What could be more intolerant than refusing to let a businessman make a decision based on his own moral compass?

Planned Parenthood is outraged that pharmacists like Vander Bleek are drawing similar lines in the sand all over the country.

“Prescription refusal is an alarming trend that can jeopardize a woman’s reproductive health,” the organization says on its Web site. “Denying women their rights to timely access to health care is an act of discrimination that could lead to an increased number of unintended pregnancies.”

An act of discrimination? Since when is the harmless adherence to one’s personal beliefs an act of discrimination? Has Planned Parenthood forgotten the basic truth behind its own “choice” rhetoric?

Can’t a woman denied medication by one pharmacist simply choose another pharmacist more sympathetic to her values? The answer is obvious – of course she can. Several states even allow pharmacists to dispense a morning after pill called “Plan B” without a prescription.

Like many others, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich bit the “right to choose” bait readily. He imposed the administrative rule threatening pharmacists’ licenses after two women were refused morning after prescriptions.

“It’s really just as simple as making sure that women don’t get hassled or harassed when they go to the drugstore to buy their birth control,” he told Fox News this week. “It’s a very simple concept, and it shouldn’t be threatening anybody.”

Blagojevich misses his own “very simple concept.”

Politely and peacefully refusing to do something because it violates our moral beliefs is not an act of harassment. It is a cherished expression of liberty. Christians ought not quietly acquiesce when government, or an employer, insists that we violate God’s law.

In fact, 28 states have introduced legislation to protect a pharmacist’s right to say no.

Some may argue that pharmacists who refuse prescriptions do not understand the medicines they’re working with; after all, not all morning after pills induce abortion.

But the technical details of how these pills work in various circumstances is not the real issue. The real issue is that we’re seeing the steady erosion of Christian values in America, and we’re dangerously close to legalized discrimination against those who hold those values.

Does that seem far-fetched? It might not if we talked to a pharmacist who lost her job because her beliefs prevented her from prescribing medication designed to kill an unborn baby.

This recent flap in pharmacies is merely an example of something Christians have encountered since Peter’s day. We are sometimes faced with a tough choice: stand by our beliefs, or compromise in order to stay employed or otherwise get along in our culture. It is during those times that our faith is tested most.

Pharmacists aren’t the only ones stuck between their beliefs and society’s insistence that we tolerate anything and everything. In some way, every Christian can expect to face such a crossroads.

I pray God will give us wisdom and grace to stay true to our beliefs no matter what the consequences. Even when the choice is to leave a good job, disappoint a customer or provoke ridicule, we can rest fully in God’s promise to care for us.

In today’s climate of ethical dilemmas, steadfast faith still is the best medicine.