Nurses quit jobs to avoid distributing "morning-after" pills

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Nine state health department nurses have resigned at least partly over concerns about the agency distributing emergency contraceptives, also known as "morning-after" pills, at family planning clinics. "The first time I had to do it, it made me physically sick and I told that to my supervisor," said Donna Tyner, who resigned from her job as a nurse practitioner at state public health clinics in the Montgomery area. Health department officials have said they were making accommodations for clinic workers who said they had moral concerns about using the pills, which women take after they have had intercourse. Dr. Tom Miller, family planning director for the health department, said the nine nurses resigned voluntarily and no employees have been fired for refusing to distribute the emergency contraceptives. But Tyner said she quit after she was told she had no other options when the health department began issuing the emergency contraceptives in April to women at its family planning clinics across the state. Posted by Editor at July 29, 2004 10:12 AM