Wash. pharmacists ask Supreme Court to review Plan B ruling

SEATTLE (AP) — Pharmacists are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling that Washington state can force pharmacies to dispense Plan B or other emergency contraceptives.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July overturned a 2012 federal court ruling that the state’s rules violated the religious freedom of pharmacy owners.

A Ralph’s Thriftway pharmacy in Olympia and two Christian pharmacists on Monday asked the Supreme Court to hear their appeal.

 

Washington adopted its rules in 2007 following reports that some women had been denied access to Plan B, an emergency contraception product taken within a short time period after unprotected sexual intercourse.