Letter: Religion has no place in the pharmacy

Friday, Feb. 10, 2006 | 12:31 p.m.

There is a time and place for the practice of one's religion. When a person's religious beliefs infringe on the rights of others, the line has been crossed.

Pharmacists and medical personnel who refuse to perform services based on their conscience are, in my opinion, conscientious objectors. The military knew what to do with conscientious objectors. It put them into other jobs.

The religious right insists that we are a Christian nation, but nowhere in the Constitution are the words Christian or Christianity mentioned, and the Constitution is the supreme law of the land (see Article VI, second paragraph).

While the Constitution guarantees the right of worship, it also states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." This means that people do not have to submit to the religious views of others, nor is religion to be allowed to dictate the policies of the government of the United States.

President Bush should be impeached because he has allowed the anti-abortion views of the religious right to influence the government policies on family planning aid to Africa, where thousands are dying of AIDS. These people do not have a pharmacy on every corner where they can buy condoms, and because a small portion of family planning aid goes to fund abortions, basic family planning services are curtailed where they are desperately needed.

Is this what the future holds for Americans if the fanaticism of the religious is allowed to prevail?

Nadia Romeo, Las Vegas