Rome, Italy, Nov 1, 2007 / 09:10 am
The president of the Catholic Union of Italian Pharmacists, Pietro Uroda, explained that the morning after pill is “a sort of hormonal bomb” that “cures nothing.” “It is a pharmaceutical product that is for killing an eventual embryo” that is already a human being.
Uroda made his comments in the wake of statements by Pope Benedict XVI defending the right to conscientious objection of pharmacists who refuse to sell the morning after pill. Uroda said he himself is a conscientious objector and that he “has never sold the abortion pill.”
“Our code says that we are at the service of life,” he went on. “We do not believe this product is a drug, because it cures nothing. It is a pharmaceutical product that is for killing an eventual embryo. If it does not kill, it can cause other harm,” Uroda said.
“While there is no law that protects conscientious objection, there are laws and rulings that combined, address the situations in which this right is exercised,” he added.
“For example, according to article 54 of the Italian penal code, if someone violates the law in order to save another person he is exempt from punishment; if it is for a greater good. Therefore, in order to save the embryo we reject selling the morning after pill”, he said.
“We don’t want to accept putting anyone to death,” Uroda said. “If the embryo—as it is already scientifically proven—is a human life, we think it should be helped and defended.”