The US
Supreme Court has said it won't hear an appeal from Washington state
pharmacists with religious objections to dispensing emergency contraceptives.
It leaves in place rules first adopted nearly a decade ago.
Tuesday's
ruling leaves in place regulations adopted in 2007, following reports several
women were denied access to emergency contraceptives. The rules stipulate that
pharmacies must fill lawful prescriptions, but individual pharmacists with
moral objections can refer patients to another pharmacist in the same store.
The case
Stormans -
owners of Ralph's Thriftway in Olympia, a Washington state grocery store and
pharmacy, sued, as did two pharmacists who said the rules required them to
breach their religious beliefs.
"The
state needs to not make a value judgment that a religiously-motivated referral
is not permissible when other referrals are," Kristen Waggoner, the lead
attorney for Stormans in the case said. She added that another lawsuit could
happen if the state doesn't enforce the rules "in an even-handed
manner."
Washington
state Attorney General Bob Ferguson praised the high court's decision to not
hear the case.
"Patients
should know that when they need medication, they won't be refused based on the
personal views of a particular pharmacy owner," Ferguson added. "The
appeals court ruling upheld today protects that principle."
Splits in
the high court
Meanwhile,
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said
they would have heard the appeal. Alito wrote a 15-page dissent for the three
dissenting justices: "If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims
will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have
cause for great concern."
Plan B
Sold as
Plan B, emergency contraception is a high dose of the drug found in many
regular birth-control pills. It can lower the risk of pregnancy by as much as 89
percent if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.
jbh/jr (AP,
Voice of America)
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