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A Minnesota pharmacist is set to go on trial after refusing to fill a woman’s prescription for emergency contraception.
Andrea Anderson is suing longtime pharmacist George Badeaux under the Minnesota Human Rights Act after an incident in 2019 where he refused to fill her prescription for a morning-after pill based on his religious beliefs. The state law prohibits discrimination based on sex, including issues related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Jury selection for the case began Monday and the case is expected to conclude this week, perCBS News.
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The trial comes asa number of political leaders have been vocal about their desire to see bans and restrictions on contraceptives following the end ofRoe v. Wade.
Most notably, Supreme Court JusticeClarence Thomaspenned a concurring opinion inDobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—whichoverturned the constitutional right to abortion— and suggested the court reconsider other key decisions, includingGriswold v. Connecticut, the ruling that currently protects the right to buy and use contraceptives without government restriction.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would protect the right to contraception. The bill, called the Right to Contraception Act, would guarantee the right for access to birth control and protect a variety of contraceptives. It would also ensure that health care providers have the right to provide contraception to patients.
In recent weeks, there has also been a surge in demand for emergency contraceptives. According to theAmerican College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, emergency contraception “reduces the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse.”
Emergency contraception can be used after “forgetting to take several birth control pills in a row, having a condom break or slip off, or not using a birth control method during sex. It also can be used after a woman has been raped,” according to the organization.
Last month, a pharmaceutical companysubmitted an applicationto the Food and Drug Administration for the first-ever over-the-counter birth control pill in the United States.
Though the company, HRA Pharma, said its application was unrelated to recent events and the timing is “a really sad coincidence,” Frédérique Welgryn, chief strategic operations and innovation officer at HRA Pharma, called the move “a groundbreaking moment in contraceptive access and reproductive equity in the U.S.”
source: people.com
