Walgreens Pharmacist Denies Woman Miscarriage Medication To Uphold His Beliefs

A woman in Arizona receives news of her tragic miscarriage. Then, when she gets to Walgreens, she was denied her medication.

Nicole Arteaga had a bad experience in Walgreens following a heartbreaking doctor's visit.

Miscarriage And Prescription

AZ Central reports that Arteaga, 35, was 10 weeks pregnant when she visited her doctor for a check up. However, the visit turned in heartbreaking fashion as her physician told her that the baby's heart had ceased beating. It will, unfortunately, end up in a miscarriage.

The physician gave her a prescription for medication to deal with the miscarriage and terminate the pregnancy, which Arteaga promptly took to Walgreens in Peoria. According to her, she opted to take the medication instead of getting an invasive medical procedure.

At Walgreens

When she got to the pharmacy with her 7-year-old son on Thursday, June 21, Arteaga was turned away by the pharmacist at the counter. The man refused to fill out the prescription due to his beliefs.

When her husband dropped by Walgreens to explain the situation further, he was denied the medication as well.

In an impassioned Facebook post, Arteaga expounded on the painful incident saying it is something that no woman should ever experience.

"I get it we all have our beliefs," she wrote on her social media account, explaining that she had no control over her miscarriage. "He has no idea what [it's] like to want nothing more than to carry a child to full term and be unable to do so ... I left Walgreens in tears, ashamed and feeling humiliated by a man who knows nothing of my struggles but feels it is his right to deny medication prescribed to me by my doctor."

Walgreens Update, Response

Arteaga updated her Facebook post on Friday, June 23, saying that Walgreens sent her an email notification that told her the prescription was transferred to another Walgreens branch across town.

Walgreens explains in an official statement that their company policy states that pharmacists are actually allowed to step away from filling a prescription when they morally object from it. However, they are required in turn to pass the prescription to another pharmacist or manager so that the needs of the client is still met.

In Arteaga's case, she wasn't referred to another employee during her visit to Walgreens.

However, it appears that the pharmacist is within his rights in the incident. Arizona laws state that pharmacists can actually refuse to fill prescriptions for moral or religious reasons.