Newswise — On Wednesday, July 7, attorneys for the State of Washington told a federal judge that the state would seek to create new rules for pharmacists who have conscientious objections to “Plan B” — the so-called morning-after pill. The attorneys’ announcement came less than three weeks before the scheduled start of a civil rights trial in Tacoma federal court. The plaintiffs are two pharmacists and the owners of a pharmacy who say that the Washington State Board of Pharmacy rules, which mandate that they stock and dispense the pills, violate their free exercise of religion.
Seeking to create new rules is an about-face for the State of Washington. The trial, which was set for July 26, has been postponed so that the pharmacy board can undertake a new rule-making process.
Dr. Jerold Waltman, R.W. Morrison Professor of Constitutional Studies in Baylor University’s department of political science, College of Arts and Sciences, said the case is “a classic example of the conflict between those searching for uniformity of law vs. people who are seeking an exemption on the grounds of free exercise.” Waltman also is associate editor for the Journal of Church and State.
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