A musician who tried to buy the morning after pill from two Boots pharmacists says she was "humiliated and disgusted" after being refused the treatment on moral grounds.
French Canadian singer song-writer Tiffany Berton visited the store next to Ealing Broadway station on November 1 to try to get hold of the pill as a precaution, but was told they did not stock it for religious reasons.
She was directed to another Boots in the nearby Ealing Broadway centre, where she was made to fill out a form giving her details and the types of contraceptive she uses. After a pharmacist checked over the form, Ms Berton was turned away again and told to look elsewhere.
"I was really shocked," said the 28-year-old, who lives in South Ealing and teaches music in schools.
"It made me feel like the pharmacist took one look at the form, judged me for some kind of amoral woman, and told me to deal with my mistakes and go to hell.
"I was made to feel guilty, even dirty, and definitely irresponsible. I was made to feel oppressed by someone else's moral and religious opinions, and my power over my own body was taken away from me."
Ms Berton was redirected again, to Superdrug in the Ealing Broadway Centre, where she was given the morning after pill straight away.
Now she is calling for a change in the law which gives pharmacists the right to refuse treatment if they have a moral objection.
"It's a science issue and I'm really confused as to what religion is doing there," she said.
"I've been talking to lots of people and hearing lots of stories.
"I'm not the only one; this probably happens every single day."
Boots apologised to Ms Berton and promised to look into the issue at the Ealing stores. A spokeswoman said: "Pharmacists can legally refuse to dispense a product on ethical or religious grounds. In this situation the Royal Pharmaceutical Society code of ethics states that a pharmacist should ensure that they direct the patient to another pharmacist for an alternative source of supply if appropriate.
"We are sorry that in this instance the customer was not satisfactorily directed to an alternative source and we will be reviewing the process with the stores involved."
