A Rotherham woman has complained after a Muslim pharmacist refused to give her the morning after pill because it was against his religious beliefs.
Mother-of-two Jo-Ann Thomas, of Thurcroft, said she was concerned teenage girls may be turned away from the branch of Lloyds Pharmacy.
In a statement, the company said it wanted to apologise to Ms Thomas.
But it said the pharmacist was acting within his rights under an industry code of ethics.
"If I had not been able to get it and I had got pregnant, would an abortion have suited him better?"
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain's code allows a pharmacist to refuse to sell or dispense drugs because of their religious or moral beliefs.
Ms Thomas was referred to her GP by the pharmacist who refused to sell her the pill.
She said: "If I had not been able to get it and I had got pregnant, would an abortion have suited him better?
"Everybody has their own beliefs and their own opinions and that is fine, but they are yours, you can't force them down someone's throat, it is not fair."
Dr John Radford, of Rotherham Primary Care Trust, said incidents such as this were rare.
He said: "The pharmacist, or any other health professional, has a duty to put the patient in touch with another practitioner.
"In this case the pharmacists put the patient in touch with her local surgery."
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~34~RS~)