A GRIFFITH pharmacist has created a storm after banning the sale of contraceptives to customers on religious grounds.

Devout Catholic Trevor Dal Broi from East Griffith Pharmacy has asked women using the oral contraceptive pill for birth control to take their scripts to another chemist.

The controversial policy comes about a month after the pharmacy removed condoms from its shelves and ceased dispensing the morning-after pill.

In a leaflet being handed to women filling scripts for the pill, Mr Dal Broi stated that as "he accepts the official teaching of the Catholic Church against the use of artificial contraception" he has a "moral objection" to providing the drug.

While he maintained the pharmacy would not enquire as to the whether the drug was prescribed as birth control or to treat a medical condition, Mr Dal Broi said customers would be told of the policy and asked not to return to his store with a script if it is for contraceptive purposes.

The move has outraged many local women, with 18-year-old Alison Dance saying the extreme stance had the potential to undermine the sexual health education taught in schools.

"He's a healthcare professional, so where's the professionalism?" Ms Dance said.

"We're taught in school that you need condoms and the pill to prevent HIV/AIDS, STDs and pregnancy � and he's really not helping by doing this."

A 27-year-old local woman, who declined to be named for privacy reasons, said Mr Dal Broi was making an unfair moral judgment on people who were entitled to receive