Illinois Court Grants Hearing for Pharmacists Refusing to Stock Plan B

Feminist Daily News 12/22/2008: Illinois Court Grants Hearing for Pharmacists Refusing to Stock Plan B

Two Illinois pharmacists will be able to challenge in court an administrative rule that requires state pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception (EC) after the Illinois Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision denying their case last week. The case (see PDF), Morr-Fitz v. Blagojevich, will now be sent to a Circuit Court for review.

The rule in question, which Gov. Rod Blagojevich first issued as an executive order in 2005, is now a regulation that will continue to be enforced while the court reviews the case. The pharmacists challenging the regulation, which prohibits pharmacies from denying customers EC, cite religious opposition to emergency contraception as the reason behind their refusal to stock and distribute EC. One of the pharmacists in the case, Luke Vander Bleek, told the Washington Post that "I cannot follow my religion's teachings and continue to be involved" in distributing EC...