Judge: State can't make druggists sell Plan B contraceptive

[cleanhippie]

Washington state may not force pharmacies to sell Plan B or other emergency contraceptives, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the state's true goal is to suppress religious objections by druggists — not to promote timely access to the medicines for people who need them.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton heard closing arguments earlier this month in a lawsuit that claimed state rules violate the constitutional rights of pharmacists by requiring them to dispense such medicine. The state requires pharmacies to dispense any medication for which there is a community need and to stock a representative assortment of drugs needed by their patients.

Elaine Rose, CEO of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest, said the issue was never about Plan B specifically but about the rights of patients.

"Really, this is a blow to access for all patients," she said.

"The real issue is when a person walks into a pharmacy with a prescription for a legitimate, legal medication, whether they are going to have that filled by the person behind the counter," Rose said. Under this ruling, it appears that any pharmacist or pharmacy can say they have an objection to dispensing a particular drug, she added. "Where is this going to stop?"

In his ruling, Leighton noted that the intervenors in the case included two HIV-positive individuals "concerned that the success of Plaintiffs' claims could result in the denial of lawfully prescribed and medically necessary drugs to combat their condition...."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017568248_planb23m.html

When is this nonsense going to stop?

[RKP5637]

1. This is soooo screwed up in so many ways - soooo backward. US = United Stupidity. n/t

[WCGreen]

3. Idiocracy, here we come...

[RKP5637]

11. You know, I tried to watch Idiocracy all the way through and never made it ... it struck

home to me so much as to our future reality. I just look at this country now compared to when I was a kid and it's an endless WTF. It's like much of the nation has been drugged and just lets all of this sh** get by them. And not a small number embrace it as great.

[WCGreen]

12. It's the broadcast media's fault....

all though print media assumes a large part of the blame.

There is just nothing of value news wise on television. And since most people get their news from the TV, well....

All TV does is present pictures that they then fit into a narrative that is hard to bust out of once started.

[WCGreen]

2. If they recieve certification from the state....

Then they should handle all legal drugs.

This is a horrible ruling...

[Angry Dragon]

7. Pull their licence

[Angry Dragon]

4. Can someone tell me what the difference would be

from a person saying serving blacks, Native American, or any other minority is against their religion??

[niyad]

5. appointed by georgie boy, big surprise

http://judgepedia.org/index.php/Ronald_Leighton

[niyad]

6. dear pharmacists, if you have objections to providing legal drugs, GET ANOTHER JOB

[msongs]

10. funny how the religious crowd reads a job description, takes the job anyway, THEN

screams bloody murder when they are asked to do what they knew they were going to have to do.

"thanks for hiring me. My religion says I do not have to do any work in exchange for being paid".

[zorahopkins]

8. It Would Be Nice If.....

It would be nice if Doctors and other medical providers in Virginia would just refuse (on moral grounds) to perform transvaginal ultrasounds women.

[Old and In the Way]

9. So, a pharmacists rights to withhold prescrition medicine trumps a person's rights to get them?

Very strange reading of constitutional law. One's life is unaffected by the withholding or dispensing of the contraception, the other's life could be dramatically impacted by this other person's decision.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

20. No, the ruling was that the state can not command a business to carry certain merchandise

Its not the pharmacist, its the pharmacy business, which may not even be owned by a pharmacist.

[MiniMe]

13. I want my right to freedom FROM religion

[cleanhippie]

16. In this country, it would seem that only christians get that right.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. DO YOUR JOB or FIND ANOTHER ONE.

you are licensed by the state to dispense medication; if your invisible sky-friend won't let you do that, find a different gig.

[joeybee12]

15. Nominated by Bush the Dumber...

That's what happens when a Supreme court steals an election for you.

[CrispyQ]

17. The war on women goes on.

[Politicalboi]

18. Well then

Maybe they should have to post a sign in a store that doesn't believe in birth control. That way most people who don't go there for prescriptions can shop somewhere else if they don't want to support the 18th Century store. Or we could promote protests at pharmacies that don't do their medical duty. The public needs to know where to shop so we can put these pharmacies out of business. So go ahead, side with the pedophiles and the "christian crazies" see how far that gets you. Ask you pharmacy if they support religion over health, and if they do, drop them.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

19. Most of the responses so far have missed a key point...it was pharmacies not pharmacists

The difference is huge if you take a moment to think about it.

If the business decides not to stock it, there is nothing the duty pharmacist can do, regardless of what they personally believe. If the business does stock it and the pharmacist chooses not to dispense, he will be fired for failing in his duty to his employer.

When taken to the macro level, the state really should not be in the business of telling businesses what they should sell. However, we as consumers have and should use that power. If there is a pharmacy that will not carry plan B or Birth control pills, spread the word. Normally they won't be in business long.

I would like to know how often this is really a problem. I do not know of any major chain that does not stock such meds and the remaining small shops are dying rapidly. If there is one discriminating against women, the consumer action can kill it that much sooner.

[Jester Messiah]

21. Sounds like an opportunity.

Any pharmacists on DU got itchy feet, feel like maybe opening a shop in Washington state? There's a demand that's not being met.