Washington Pharmacy Board Rules Violate Free Exercise Rights of Objecting Pharmacists

Yesterday in Stormans, Incorporated v. Selecky, (WD WA, Feb. 22, 2012), a Washington federal district court held unconstitutional the enforcement of rules of the Washington State Pharmacy Board that require pharmacies and pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception even when doing so violates a pharmacist's religious beliefs. At issue are Plan B and ella that prevent implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. In a 97-page Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, a 48-page Opinion, and a Permanent Injunction order, the court held that the rules, as applied to those with religious objections, violate the Free Exercise and Equal Protection clauses. More specifically, the court held:

The Board of Pharmacy’s 2007 rules are not neutral, and they are not generally applicable. They were designed instead to force religious objectors to dispense Plan B, and they sought to do so despite the fact that refusals to deliver for all sorts of secular reasons were permitted. The rules are unconstitutional as applied to Plaintiffs.

The court enjoined the state from enforcing the rules "against Plaintiffs, or against the pharmacies in which Plaintiffs have an ownership or managerial interest, or where Plaintiffs are employed, insofar as those Regulations would prohibit Plaintiffs from declining based on their religious beliefs to stock or deliver Plan B or ella and instead providing a referral to a nearby pharmacy or other location that provides Plan B or ella." The Becket Fund issued a press release announcing the decision. (See prior related posting.)