This just in: prejudice is a legitimate ground of belief

There is so much to criticize about the increasingly serious efforts of the religious right to prevent people from using contraception that it is hard to know where to begin. I will begin with a quote, attributed to Ron Stephens, Republican and Illinois state representative, in Russell Shorto's New York Times Magazine article. Stephens, like an increasing number of people, argues that pharmacists should be allowed to refuse to fill a prescription on moral grounds. Emergency contraception such as Plan B is at the center of this controversy, although the arguments are not specific to moral objections to emergency contraception. Stephens himself refuses to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, but he will fill prescriptions for other hormonal contraceptives. When asked to explain his reasoning, he replied as follows.

"It's the difference between stopping a pregnancy from happening and ending a pregnancy. My understanding of the science is that the morning-after pill can end a pregnancy, whereas birth control pills will make a woman's body believe she is already pregnant so that the egg will not be fertilized." And what if studies show that, in fact, both drugs can prevent implantation? "Everyone has their natural prejudice," Stephens replied. "I'm going to understand it my way, and the issue is that you should not be forced to do something you believe is immoral."

That is, it does not matter if his understanding of the science is incorrect (it certainly does not sound like he really knows what he is talking about). His "understanding" of the moral distinction between ordinary hormonal contraception and emergency contraception will remain unchanged--it is his prejudice (his word, not mine), and if you have a natural prejudice with respect to a moral question, you are entitled to act according to your prejudices. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to come up with an extension of this argument that will show that the principle is clearly morally objectionable.