Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2006-11-13

The Morning-After Pill and Justice is the topic of a program sponsored by Samford University's Healthcare Ethics and Law (HEAL) Institute Thursday, Nov. 16. The program, open to the public free of charge, will be at 3 p.m. in Brock Forum, located in Dwight Beeson Hall.

Bruce D. White, D.O., J.D., director of HEAL, will lead a conversation about recent legal, ethical and public policy debates and proposals resulting from pharmacists' refusals to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives.

The speaker will explain the ongoing controversy surrounding pharmacists not wanting to fill prescriptions for emergency contraceptives, define such terms as rights, conscientious objection and justice; and offer public-policy alternatives to avert a crisis while protecting women's health and pharmacists' consciences.

Continuing education credit is available for nurses and pharmacists.

White will present the same program to students in Samford's McWhorter School of Pharmacy earlier in the day.

White, who is a pharmacist, medical doctor and attorney, is also director of the Clinical Ethics Fellowship Program at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Ariz.

The HEAL Institute is a part of Samford's McWhorter School of Pharmacy. For information on Thursday's program, call the pharmacy school at (205) 726-2820.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.