SEATTLE — Pharmacists are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling that Washington state can force pharmacies to dispense Plan B or other emergency contraceptives.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July overturned a 2012 federal court ruling that the state’s rules violated the religious freedom of pharmacy owners.
A Ralph’s Thriftway pharmacy in Olympia and two pharmacists on Monday asked the Supreme Court to hear their appeal. They say requiring them to dispense the drug violates their religious beliefs and is tantamount to abortion.
Washington adopted rules in 2007 following reports that some women had been denied access to Plan B, which has a high dose of medicine found in birth-control pills and is effective if a woman takes it within a few days of unprotected sex.
