The Illinois Pharmacists Association is questioning Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s motives for creating a controversial rule involving emergency contraception.

The rule requires pharmacies which stock contraceptives to fill all contraceptive prescriptions regardless of moral beliefs. The rule was issued April 5 and followed two complaints that a Chicago pharmacist declined to fill emergency contraception prescriptions on moral grounds.

Emergency contraception, or Plan B, can be used up to 72 hours after unprotected sex. It prevents ovulation and fertilization but does not terminate a pregnancy. It is not the same as RU486 or the abortion pill.

The Illinois Pharmacists Association feels the emergency rule infringes upon pharmacists’ rights under the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act.

This act prohibits discrimination against individuals who decline to provide health care on moral grounds.

Susan Hofer, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, said the governor is silent on the conscience issue.

The emergency rule applies to pharmacies, not pharmacists. A business cannot have a conscience, Hofer said.

Few pharmacists actually invoke their right of conscience.

All pharmacies, however, must change their policies to accommodate the new rule.

Before the emergency rule, Walgreens adhered to a policy that protected both pharmacists’ and patients’ rights.

“We have thousands of pharmacists; each with their own ethical values, and we respect those values,” Walgreens spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said. “We also have a responsibility to our patients.”

Other DeKalb pharmacists have similar policies.

“If a drug is in stock, we fill the prescription,” said Ann Lehan, owner of Lehan Drugs, 1407 S. Fourth St. “If not, we call another pharmacy.”

Michael Patton of the Illinois Pharmacists Association questioned Blagojevich’s motives for issuing the rule.

The incidents which prompted the emergency rule occurred in Chicago, a city with a drug store on every block, Patton said.

Women in rural towns, which have fewer pharmacies available to them, might benefit from the emergency rule if not for supply and demand.

Rural pharmacists often do not need to stock drugs such as emergency contraceptives.

“One rural pharmacist said he had only had two requests for Plan B in four or five years,” Patton said.