PORTLAND, Ore. — Lawyers presented arguments Thursday in a case involving a decision by the state of Washington to force a pharmacy to provide the Plan B emergency contraceptive even if they have moral or religious objections.
The arguments before a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Portland came more than seven years after the state Pharmacy Board ruled that pharmacies could not refuse to sell a lawful product such as Plan B because of those beliefs.
Two pharmacists and an Olympia pharmacy owner sued the state in 2007, arguing their constitutional rights were being violated by the requirement.
The pharmacy, Ralph’s Thriftway in Olympia, argued that the drug is too similar to abortion, and prescribing it could impinge on the religious freedom of a pharmacist. The drug can be bought at a dozen pharmacies nearby, they argued, and patients don’t suffer when they are referred elsewhere.
“There’s not a shred of evidence that anyone has suffered because of this” refusal, said Kristen Waggoner, an attorney for the pharmacy owner.
The pharmacy won in U.S. District Court in 2012, but the state appealed.
Referrals are at the core of the appeal. The pharmacy contended that no one suffers when they refuse to fill a prescription for an emergency contraceptive and instead refer patients to another pharmacy. The state says that’s a dangerous idea that could be problematic in rural areas and impact people’s health.
The state of Washington argued that the ruling established what could be a dangerous precedent of allowing religious objections in such matters.
“There is a very serious problem and it goes beyond one pharmacy in Olympia,” said Tom Bader, an attorney for the state.
Bader said the danger could extend to pharmacists who refuse to supply AIDS medication to patients in a timely manner.
Plan B is not the abortion pill RU-486. Plan B contains a high dose of a drug found in many birth-control pills and prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg. Plan B is available without prescription to women 17 and older.
Purchasers must ask for Plan B at the pharmacy counter and show identification with their date of birth. Anyone too young to qualify for over-the-counter sales needs a prescription.
In 2007, regulators on the state’s Pharmacy Board ruled that pharmacies could not refuse to sell a lawful product such as Plan B because of moral or religious beliefs.
A compromise rule was adopted that allowed individual pharmacists who had moral objections to pass the sale to another employee in the same store, provided the patient’s order was filled without delay.
But that left few options for a lone pharmacist or for a pharmacy owner who has moral objections to a particular drug.
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