February 28, 2012
A federal court ruled Feb. 22 that pharmacists in Washington state have the right to refuse to dispense "emergency contraception" drugs that could take the life of a preborn baby, WORLD News Service reports. Instead, pharmacists who object for religious or moral reasons have the right to refer customers to other pharmacies, trumping a 2007 Board of Pharmacy law -- drafted by Planned Parenthood and approved by Gov. Christine Gregoire -- that any Washington pharmacist who didn't dispense the drugs would lose his job. "[The] decision sends a very clear message: No individual can be forced out of her profession solely because of her religious beliefs," said Luke Goodrich of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. "If the state allows pharmacists to refer patients elsewhere for economic, business and convenience reasons, it has to allow them to refer for reasons of conscience."
