Abstract Background Conscientious objection (CO) recognises healthcare practitioners' freedom of conscience but can impact equitable access to services. There is limited research in understanding CO among pharmacists. Aim To investigate CO among pharmacists in New Zealand, including support for and factors influencing CO decisions in providing various medicines and services, and attitudes towards benefits and concerns associated with CO. Method A cross‐sectional, anonymous online survey was conducted among 294 registered pharmacists in New Zealand. Fisher's exact test and regression analyses were performed to assess and associate participants' demographics with responses to support for CO, prevalence of CO, and qualitative questions. Thematic analysis was used to explore the qualitative findings on benefits and concerns about CO. Ethical approval was granted by the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee (Reference no: UAHPEC26360) and the study conforms with the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from all participants via distribution of project information indicating participation was voluntary and anonymous. Results Approximately two‐thirds of participants ( n = 195, 66.3%) supported pharmacists' right to CO, although the majority ( n = 252, 85.7%) reported no experience with CO. When asked about willingness to supply medicines, participants most frequently objected to medical abortifacient medicines, the emergency contraceptive pill, and gender‐affirming hormone therapy. Participants with a religion were more likely to support CO (odds ratio OR 3.83, 95% confidence interval CI 2.25, 6.54, p < 0.001) while age (51–60 years) and religion appeared to be associated with a higher CO prevalence (Age adjusted OR 7.06, 95% CI 2.25, 22.16, p < 0.001; Religion adjusted OR 6.99, 95% CI 1.42, 34.37, p = 0.017). Conclusions Our findings suggest the majority of New Zealand pharmacists support CO and will practice CO in line with the New Zealand Code of Ethics for pharmacists in ensuring continuity of care. Future research should specifically explore the impact of rurality on access to pharmacies and service disparities.
Wong et al. (Sat,) studied this question.