Updated 11.25 - Added St Thomas hospital comment

St James Hospital will refuse to stock the morning-after pill in its pharmacy on both conscientious and logistical grounds, according to the hospital chairman.

A pro-life campaign group earlier this week quoted the hospital saying it would not sell the emergency contraceptive, which was licensed in October after a grassroots campaign and national debate, “as per clear instructions from chairman Josie Muscat”.

The hospital later clarified that as it operated only an in-patient pharmacy, over-the-counter medications such as the morning-after pill would not be sold.

Dr Muscat told the Times of Malta yesterday he had been prepared to prevent the sale of the contraceptive on conscientious grounds due to a “big probability” that it could have an abortive effect, but selling the medication would not have been possible due to the nature of the hospital pharmacy.

He confirmed the pharmacy would not stock the pill and that, should a woman be recommended the pill by a doctor at the hospital, such as after a case of sexual assault, she would have to find a different pharmacy to obtain it.

Another private hospital, St Thomas Hospital, will however be providing assistance to those patients wanting to take the MAP.

Speaking to Times of Malta, a spokesman for the hospital said that patients should be free to opt to take the contraceptive if they wish to and even though the hospital does not have its own pharmacy, it was willing to offer assistance.

“We are willing to help patients find pharmacies that do sell the MAP as we believe that this is not abortifacient and actually helps patients who might be concerned about an unplanned pregnancy,” the St Thomas hospital spokesman said.

There is no education to accompany the introduction of the morning-after pill

Claims that the morning-after pill is abortifacient have been routinely denied by Medicines Authority chief Anthony Serracino-Inglott, while the World Health Organisation says emergency contraception “cannot interrupt an established pregnancy or harm a developing embryo”.

Dr Muscat also took aim at the decision to allow the pill to be purchased over-the-counter rather than by prescription, a possibility which was considered but ultimately rejected by the Medicines Authority.

“There is no education to accompany the introduction of the morning-after pill,” he said. “If it had been available only by prescription you would have been able to explain to women when they need it, educate people on how to take it and possible side-effects. It is the uninformed and uneducated who will suffer.”

As independent healthcare professionals, pharmacists have a right to refuse to sell the pill if it goes against their moral beliefs.

St James Hospital is so far the first to announce a blanket refusal, but pro-life lobby Gift of Life has announced that it is developing an app as a register of pharmacies which objected to the pill.

“Pharmacists have a right to object but we are informed that some may be reluctant to do so as they fear they might lose their job,” spokesman Paul Vincenti said in November. “This should not be the case and that is why we want to develop the app, so we provide all the necessary information.”

The Malta Chamber of Pharmacists has criticised the development of the app, calling it “discriminatory”.

“Such action is in direct breach of the ethics of the pharmacy profession as issued by the Pharmacy Council,” said president Mary Ann Sant Fournier.