On March 15, the federal Health Protection Branch decided to issue a notice of compliance to allow the marketing in Canada of the abortifacient drug Preven. This development will pose a challenge to pharmacists to uphold the honour and dignity that their profession has achieved as a health care service.

Preven represents the first time in this country approval has been given to market a drug known and used specifically in a regimen which causes the death of a human being as part of its mechanism of action. This regimen, if accepted as part of common medical and pharmaceutical practice, will blur the distinction between using drugs for the purpose of improving or maintaining health, and causing the deaths of human beings (at any stage of development). Pharmacists have not yet been challenged to defend their profession to this extent.

The Preven kit includes tablets containing a combination of high doses of female steroid hormones that are consumed up to 72 hours post-coitally, with the intention of preventing pregnancy or the further gestation of pregnancy if conception (fertilization) has occurred. Much rhetorical language and confusing scientific terminology is being used to promote this chemical abortion procedure, which, in fact, is best described as “post-coital interception.”

In addition to the “morning-after pill,” some are also using the very deceiving name, “emergency contraception.” This latter term conveys the false impression that there is a health care emergency to attend to, and that the procedure is contraceptive in nature – neither of which is true. The only urgency which exists is that after 72 hours, the pills are less effective in disrupting an already-growing human embryo which has a greater potential to implant in his or her mother’s womb after that time. This procedure is not contraceptive because, in many cases, conception (fertilization) has already occurred. Preven is best placed in a category of contra-implantive drugs.

The key to breaking through the rhetoric is to understand that the phrase “prevention of implantation” indicates an abortive measure. Once the union of sperm and ovum occurs, a newly created human being exists and simply requires nutrition and a protected environment (provided by the lining of the mother’s uterus) to continue to grow until birth. All human beings started out this way, and continue to require nutrition and a protected environment to grow. When the Preven regimen is used, it denies the conditions that are essential for survival of the newly created human being.

The trend toward using pharmaceuticals to end human lives will degrade the image of the pharmaceutical profession in the eyes of the public. On the other hand, it will also present a great opportunity for pharmacists to demonstrate their abilities and knowledge of pharmaceutics and scientific facts. Pharmacists are challenged to live up to their noble status of “most trusted professional” – a status they have been given by the public in surveys over the last 10 years. All pharmacists want to maintain this status, but they depend on the public to assist them.

Citizens can be a key to pharmacists’ success by requesting from pharmacists documented information regarding post-coital interception, as well as information confirmed through literature supplied by a health care professional. The pharmaceutical profession has always promoted increased communication with members of the public, and questions will encourage pharmacists to become more informed about the Preven procedure.

At the same time, the public can ask about any other health care topic that interests them. If the pharmacist does not know the complete answer right away, or is very busy at the time, perhaps he or she can be asked if the pharmacy’s drug information centre could be of assistance if consulted. This may take a few days, so one should be patient.

Pharmacists need to become more informed about these issues. They must not allow political correctness to steer the course of their profession and their consciences, or else the profession of pharmacy will be one large step further into the quagmire of the culture of death.

May we not let this happen. Let us be active participants in the profession’s promotion to “ask your pharmacist” about any health issue that concerns us. Let us not be silent!