Pill against my religion says chemist

Janine Deeley was turned away by the female chemist at Lloyds pharmacy in Duke Street, Sheffield, when she went to pick up her prescription.

The mother-of-two, 38, said: "The pharmacist said she had my other medication but wasn't going to give me the Pill. I initially thought that was a bit strange and perhaps I was supposed to pick them up somewhere else.

"Then she said no, she wasn't giving me the contraceptive because it was against her religion. I thought she must have been joking."

Miss Deeley, from Wybourn, was told to either go to a different chemists or return the following day, when a different pharmacist would have been working. She said she was especially furious to have been refused the Pill as she used it to treat endometriosis, not as a method of birth control.

"I shouldn't have to explain myself to her," she said. "I don't mind the fact that she's got a religion but she shouldn't force it down anybody's neck and it shouldn't affect her work."

Miss Deeley also said she was worried teenagers like her two daughters, Carlie, 18, and 14-year-old Lauren, might be put off using contraception if they encountered such difficulties.

"I don't want the pharmacist to lose her job but I think that if she's going to be a pharmacist she shouldn't expect people to accept her religion. She should accept that, in this country, we have the legal right to contraception and, if it's against her religion, she shouldn't be doing that job."

A spokeswoman for Lloyds pharmacy said she was not aware which religion the pharmacist belonged to and an investigation had been launched.

She said: "Lloyds pharmacy is very sorry that Ms Deeley was refused supply of her prescribed contraceptive pill at our Duke Street pharmacy.

"We have launched an investigation into the incident and been in contact with her to apologise for any distress and inconvenience caused."

A spokesman for NHS Sheffield added: "We take patient concerns very seriously and while we have not yet received a complaint from Ms Deeley we would be happy to investigate the matter on her behalf if she gets in touch through our normal complaints system."