Pharmacists Sue Ill. Governor Over Emergency Rule Requiring Pharmacies To Fill Birth Control, EC Prescriptions

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 16 Apr 2005 - 19:00 PDT

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The American Center for Law and Justice on Wednesday filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Illinois pharmacists alleging that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) emergency rule requiring pharmacies in the state to accept and fill prescriptions for contraceptives "without delay" violates state law, the Chicago Sun-Times reports (Chicago Sun-Times, 4/14). Earlier this month, Blagojevich issued the emergency rule and established a toll-free hotline for state residents to report refusals. Under the rule, which is effective for 150 days, a pharmacy or drug store must make arrangements to "promptly" fill prescriptions for contraceptives if the pharmacist on duty refuses to fill the prescriptions for moral reasons. However, the policy does not require all pharmacies to stock contraceptives. If a pharmacy stocks contraceptives but refuses to fill a valid prescription, it risks losing its license, according to Susan Hofer of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the state agency that oversees pharmacies. The state is scheduled to hold hearings over the next few months to make the emergency ruling permanent (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 4/4).

Lawsuit Details
ACLJ filed the suit in a state court in Springfield, Ill., on behalf of registered pharmacists Peggy Pace and John Menges, both of Edwardsville, Ill., the AP/Belleville News Democrat reports. The suit -- which also names Fernando Grillo, secretary of the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and Daniel Bluthardt, acting director of the Illinois Division of Professional Regulation, as defendants -- alleges that the emergency rule violates the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act. The law makes it illegal for public officials to discriminate against or punish people who will not participate in health care services that go against their conscience (Kelly Lannan, AP/Belleville News Democrat, 4/13). According to the suit, the rule also violates the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Illinois Human Rights Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The pharmacists also charge that there was no "emergency" in the state necessitating the emergency rule, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Pharmacists
Both Pace and Menges previously have declined to fill prescriptions and have referred customers to another pharmacy, the Tribune reports. However, neither pharmacist has refused to fill a prescription since the enactment of the emergency rule (Chase, Chicago Tribune, 4/14). Both pharmacists oppose filling prescriptions for emergency contraception because of their religious, moral and ethical beliefs, according to ACLJ senior counsel Frank Manion. "They believe that to dispense this kind of drug, called the morning-after pill, in their view that terminates a human life that's already begun. This is distinct and separate from birth control pills," Manion said, adding, "For them, to hand that drug to someone makes them participate in what they would consider the termination of human life, not the prevention of conception." Pace did not return a call for comment, and Menges declined to comment, the AP/News Democrat reports (AP/Belleville News Democrat, 4/13). Manion said, "This directive is not only legally flawed, but it puts pharmacists in the untenable position of having to choose between adhering to their religious beliefs and violating a law that could cost them their jobs." He added, "The religious beliefs of those in the health care industry must be protected. The pro-life pharmacist who chooses not to dispense abortion-producing drugs should not face punishment and discrimination for abiding by those convictions" (ACLJ release, 4/13).

Reaction
"This is another attempt to try to block women from having access to health care, and we will fight any attempt to stand in the way of women's ability to get the contraceptives that their doctors prescribed for them," Blagojevich spokesperson Abby Ottenhoff said (AP/Belleville News Democrat, 4/13). She added, "If a pharmacy is going to be in a business of stocking and dispensing contraceptives, then they shouldn't be able to make judgments about who should and should not have access to those contraceptives." Ottenhoff said the state is prepared to fight the lawsuit, adding, "We'll fight any attempt to stand in the way of a woman's right to be treated with dignity at the pharmacy counter" (Chicago Tribune, 4/14).

Background
In February, a pharmacist at an OscoDrug store in Illinois refused to dispense emergency contraception -- which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse -- to two women, saying that they could return at a later time and ask for a different pharmacist. OscoDrug and the American Pharmacists Association supported the pharmacist because of the state's Health Care Right of Conscience Act. However, Blagojevich earlier this month said that under his interpretation, only physicians, not pharmacists, could invoke the clause. He added that he was taking a stand against a growing national trend of pharmacists who oppose abortion refusing to dispense contraceptives (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 4/4).

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