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 Nov. 8, 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 just the latest step in long-running legal and political battles over the morning-after pill, which has generated controversy across the country.
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.
Plan B prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg; it also may prevent the egg from implanting into the uterus, though some research suggests that's unlikely.
Critics consider the pill tantamount to abortion, although it is different from the abortion pill RU-486 and has no effect on women who already are pregnant.
Under pressure from Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, state regulators earlier this year ruled that druggists couldn't withhold any prescription because of their personal objections.
Two pharmacists and a drugstore owner sued the state over the new rules in July, saying their civil rights were violated by the move. They had asked the judge to halt forced Plan B sales while the lawsuit is in play.
"On the issue of free exercise of religion alone, the evidence before the court convinces it that plaintiffs ... have demonstrated both a likelihood of success on the merits and the possibility of irreparable injury," Leighton wrote in reply.
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.
Women's groups, abortion-rights advocates and Gregoire have opposed that approach, saying women who seek emergency contraception must get the pills as quickly as possible in order for them to work.
After the ruling was published, state Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, said she would seek to reassert the state rules at the 2008 Legislature.
"The fact is that the citizens of the state of Washington have a right to legal drugs," Keiser said. "It is unconscionable, truly, that any federal intervention in that right could stand."
Kristen Waggoner, an attorney for the pharmacists and drugstore owner, disagreed.
"We believe strongly that forcing someone to choose between their religious beliefs and actually losing their business or their career is unconstitutional," Waggoner said. "And the court agreed, so we're going to continue pursuing the claim."
Plan B's manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., got approval last year to sell the drug over-the-counter. People 18 and older can buy it without prescription in a pharmacy.
Several states have enacted laws to improve rape survivors' access to the medication in hospital emergency rooms. Some states also have laws that protect pharmacy employees who refuse to sell the contraceptive for reasons of conscience.