Court halts Washington state morning-after pill rules

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

SEATTLE - A federal judge has suspended Washington state's requirement that pharmacists sell "morning-after" birth control pills, a victory for druggists who claim their moral objections to the drug are being bulldozed by the government.

In an injunction signed Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton said pharmacists can refuse to sell the morning-after pill if they refer the customer to another nearby source. Pharmacists' employers also are protected by the order.

Leighton's order is part of an ongoing legal and political battle over the morning-after pill.

Sold as "Plan B," the drug can dramatically lower the risk of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. It is a high dose of a drug found in many regular birth-control pills.

...

The injunction effectively sets up a so-called "refuse and refer" system, allowing pharmacists who personally oppose Plan B to send customers to another pharmacy.

Read more: http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_110807WAB_morning_after_pill_rules_SW.1ef07124f.html

[Beaverhausen]

1. Oh jesus. Here we go again

I'm surprised this is happening in Washington, though.

[flamingyouth]

2. The federal judge is a Bush appointee.

It's not that surprising. :grr:

[depakid]

36. It'll be overturned on appeal

and may well end up before the Supreme Court.

[struggle4progress]

39. Leighton was originally nominated by GHWB but was not confirmed. GWB renominated in 2001

and he was confirmed in late 2002.

[flamingyouth]

3. What a bunch of crap.

Now those cavemen who run Ralph's Thriftway in Olympia have gotten their way after all.

I wonder if there are any pharmacists who randomly refuse to sell, say, sulfa or amoxicillin. :eyes:

[regnaD kciN]

12. Good point...

I say, if you're a retired pharmacist, get a job at one of these places, and then announce that you've become a Christian Scientist, and your conscience forbids you from dispensing any perscriptions. See if you get the same sort of treatment.

[angus]

22. my response

I posted this on a duplicate thread. I say go get a job at Wal-Mart in the sporting goods department and whenever someone wants to buy a bullet or a gun, refuse based on the fact that those items could kill innocent people. Do you think the right-wingers would support that stance? Of course not--but is it any different than the pharmacist's stance?

[Shallah Kali]

25. Has anyone ever refused to sell Viagra, Ciallis, & Levitra.....

.... without making the guy buying it sign a legal document stating it is for only use with his lawfully married wife for the purpose of procreation?

[kestrel91316]

4. Solution: publicize the names of any pharmacies that won't sell

Plan B or have ANY employees who won't (and publicize the employees' names). And let the FREE MARKET take care of things. It will. Trust me. People have had QUITE ENOUGH of religious fascism.

[flamingyouth]

10. Two of the big ones are in Olympia:

Ralph's and Bayview Thriftway. They've been the targets of a well-organized boycott for a while now:

http://www.planboly.org/

[regnaD kciN]

11. Two Thriftways? Hmmm....

Thriftway used to be a pretty good-sized chain in the state, but it's spun off and sold off stores left and right, and I rarely see any anymore. Could these two be both owned by the same wingnut, and not be affiliated with whatever is left of the chain?

[flamingyouth]

15. Yeah, I believe they're owned by the same group.

[Quantess]

19. Olympia is a college town, too.

College students are a population who would use plan B more than other groups of people.

[Freddie Stubbs]

32. So, they have niether gone out of business nor started offering the morning after pill?

:shrug:

[Gman]

5. The National Labor Relations Board has very systematically stripped

away most all rights that workers ever enjoyed through unions. OTOH, the federal government is taking up some kind of bizarre rights for pharmacists that in essence are based on religion.

It just gets worse and worse. And we still have another year of this shit.

[regnaD kciN]

13. No, you have a lot more than another year of it...

Remember, federal judicial appointments are for life. Changing the occupant of the White House won't remove this guy from where he can impose his view of the law on the rest of us. :-(

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Perhaps the pharmacist ought to consider a different career.

Is he allowed to refuse other medications as well? Suppose he is a Christian Scientist and is opposed to all medical treatment, can he refuse to dispense any medicine? What if the FSM forbids giving STD treatments to rightwing hypocritical assholes? Is that allowed too?

Theocracy much?

[catrose]

8. exactly what I've been saying

I've not participated in certain jobs or industries because they conflicted with my morals. It never occurred to me to ask the federal govt to let me have the job anyway but not make me do the icky parts. I wonder if policemen can just enforce the laws they believe in.

[regnaD kciN]

14. And the obvious $64,000 Question...

...is: why stop with "Plan B?" If you object to dispensing a large dose of contraceptives on religious grounds, can't you also object to dispensing a normal amount -- in other words, filling regular birth-control prescriptions, too?

[flamingyouth]

17. Exactly.

The Pill is the next battle with a lot of these wackos. Google "birth control pill" and "abortifacient." It's eye-opening. And completely frightening.

[Ilsa]

18. And they won't bother distinguishing between

whether the script is for birth control or some other medical issue. I used to have to get a letter from my doctor to the insurance company to convince them that I needed the script for other medical reasons.

[AngryOldDem]

31. Some do have a problem with BC as well

But the beauty of our economic system is we can choose to take our business elsewhere.

Pharmacists are there to do a job. Not to pass judgment on the prescriptions they see, nor on the people who submit them. If they can't do that in good conscience, then they should get the hell out of the biz.

I really cannot stand sanctimonious assholes.

[winter999]

34. According to the guy's belief (and I've heard it elsewhere) is that

regular birth control prevents conception. Plan "B" is used only after there has been a chance of conception... i.e. before vs. after. It's the whole conception thing that is why they refuse a Plan "B" prescription while Viagra, Cialis, etc. is no problem.

To play devil's advocate: Create Life - yes; Destroy Life - no.

note: just explaining, not preaching. Can I have my $64,000 now?

[musette_sf]

7. but these evil ratfvckers

never have a problem with dispensing boner pills. why is that?????? (question is only rhetorical, i know it's because these evil ratfvckers just want to control women and take away their freedoms and liberties. so Joe can get his boner pills for a hot night dispensed by the evil ratfvck "pharmacist", and they'll make sure Joanne can't get Plan B after her night with Joe.)

on edit: yes, i am talking a little extreme trash here, but all these "Ron Paul Is So Great" threads have me steaming that such a misogynist POS should get any DU support, that i'm just on it about ANYONE who wants to get between women and freedom of choice.

[MadMaddie]

9. Maybe the Pharmacist need to get a new job...

will their right be protected if they object giving individuals STD drugs...aid drugs..pain killers...

Enough is enough...

[havocmom]

20. You can bet they would sue any fireman who claimed fire was god's will

and too bad about your house, pharmacist control freak...

[rucognizant]

16. Listening to the Mukasey conformation discussion.

Schumer is making a good case for appointing him. He is looking at the larger picture. His platform..........Mukasey would correct legal situations such as this, where a "
caretake" appointed by Bush would enable these countrywide politicized situations such as discussed here.
Mukasey has integrity in spite of his bad judgement on the waterboarding statement.
It can't be easy boing a congress[person. Unlike the boy king many of them are considering the grays, rather than just black & white.

[Demeter]

23. Sure He Would, and the Brooklyn Bridge Is Now Available

Call and place your bid for this unique feature of American infrastructure and history!

Mukasey isn't going to do anything that Bush doesn't want him to. After 7 years of abuse, it ought to be very clear to all: he's the Decider.

[sasquatch]

21. Impeach and remove the judge

Throw his ass out in the street.

[Crayson]

24. REAL SOLUTION (proposed)

Just swallow 10 pills of your regular contraceptive?

Since it's the same hormone anyway (progesterone, estrogen or a combination of both).

Does somebody have a package description?
Do the math, how many pills X does it take to make up for one dose of the morning after pill.
Publish it on the internet.
Case closed.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

27. But you would have to already BE on the pill for that to work. Plan B works for

broken condoms, women who were raped but don't want to report it...etc.

[Le Taz Hot]

29. Unfortunately, I can't advocate

for forming a network of women all "needing" to be on BC pills, therefore having a stockpile available for anyone needing the morning after pill because sharing prescriptions is illegal and that would be wrong.

[Lisa0825]

37. NOT QUITE.... you have to take the right combo of the right pills.

There is a large chart on this page showing the right dosages of many common BC brands.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/birth-control-pregnancy/emergency-contraception/procedure-4366.htm

How to Take

Plan B and other progestin-only pills can be taken in one dose or in two doses, 12 hours apart. Combination hormone pills must be taken in two doses, 12 hours apart. The number of pills in a dose varies with the brand of the pill. Use the same brand for both doses.
Swallow the pills in the first dose as soon as possible, up to 120 hours — five days — after having unprotected sex. EC may cause nausea and vomiting. This risk is much higher for combination pills than for progestin-only pills. To reduce the risk of nausea, you may want to take an anti-nausea medication, such as Dramamine ® or Bonine®, one hour before taking EC.

If you are taking the pills in two doses, swallow the second dose 12 hours after taking the first dose. If you threw up after the first dose, be sure to use an anti-nausea medication one hour before taking the second dose. Or you may want to take the second dose as a vaginal suppository by inserting the pills with your fingers as high into the vagina as you can reach. (The medication will be absorbed through the vaginal tissue.)

If you vomit the second dose, do not take any extra pills. They probably won't reduce the risk of pregnancy. But they will probably make you sick to your stomach.

[Ian David]

26. And I suppose those pharmacists also refuse to sell cigarettes to pregnant women? n/t

[Cerridwen]

28. And prescriptions for HIV and/or AIDs patients?

I presume these same "moral" crusaders have a problem with homosexuality and since we "all know" HIV/AIDs only happens to gay people (yeah, that's sarcasm folks), can they also refuse to dispense medications to HIV/AIDs patients since they're "morally" opposed to homosexuality? Especially if they think it God's punishment against gays.

The "slippery slope" is only a fallacy in formal debate; in reality it can be very effective and dangerous.

[Zorra]

30. If I am a pharamicist, and I believe that republicans are the spawn of satan,

can I refuse to sell them medicine because I have a moral objection to them using up precious oxygen?

[yellowcanine]

33. So can a strict Catholic pharmacist refuse to sell all contraceptives?

I don't think so. Can a JW pharmacist refuse to sell all blood products? Again, I don't think so. This is so much bull. A person does not have a constitutional right to be a pharmacist or to work in a pharmacy. I am sorry but I do not get this.

[HuffleClaw]

35. what utter bullshit

any pharmacist who refuses treatment should be immediately fired. this makes me wonder who ELSE could be refused treatment using 'religious freedom'? those of another race or religion come to mind. a horrifying turn of events this is.

[ihelpu2see]

38. It sets up an obstacle to care, and that is un-ethical. Basically these

Pharmacists are not following their oath...