Washington state can force pharmacies to dispense emergency contraceptives such as Plan B, a federal appeals court has ruled. Some pharmacists had said they had religious objections to providing the drug.
Washington state can force pharmacies to dispense Plan B or other emergency contraceptives, a federal appeals court said Thursday in a long-running lawsuit brought by pharmacists who said they have religious objections to providing the drugs.
The unanimous decision Thursday by the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2012 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton, who had found that the state’s rules violated pharmacy owners’ religious freedom.