A federal judge has suspended Washington state's requirement that pharmacists sell "morning-after" birth control pills, a victory for druggists who say their moral objections to the drug are being bulldozed by the government.In an injunction signed Thursday, 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.
The emergency contraception sold as Plan B is a high dose of a drug found in many regular birth-control pills. It can greatly lower the risk of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.
Many critics consider the pill tantamount to abortion, although it is different from the abortion pill RU-486 and has no effect on women who are already. [That's right; in the A.P. story printed in the Las Vegas Sun, the sentence ends with the word "already." I'm supposing reporter Curt Woodward meant to add "pregnant." But then the sentence remains a mess as I point out below.]
Under pressure from Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, state regulators this year ruled that druggists couldn't withhold any prescription because of their personal objections. Two pharmacists and a drugstore owner sued the state in July over the new rule, saying it violates their civil rights. They asked the judge to halt forced Plan B sales while the lawsuit is in play...
Vital Signs Blog Note: A couple of very important elements to this situation that shouldn't go overlooked are 1) the grave philosophical problem of a judge "granting" rights of conscience; and 2) the remarkable injustice of bureaucrats making the law instead of going through elections by the citizenry.
A third problem in this particular news story is the nonsense sentence, "Many critics consider the pill tantamount to abortion, although it is different from the abortion pill RU-486 and has no effect on women who are already [pregnant]." Well, it isn't "critics" who make the science. And the science is clear that the morning-after pill does cause abortions. Yes, the word "tantamount" means "equivalent" but its common usage suggests only similarity; i.e. it's kinda' the same. Woodward should certainly be aware of that and therefore just simply state the fact that the drug can kill developing children.
However, Woodward ends up doing more than just omitting the science; he contradicts it by saying that the morning after pill "has no effect on women that are already [pregnant]." Ah, but it does. And, again, the science is clear enough on this point that even a reporter could understand it.
Significantly, and in a phrase that I'm sure angered the Planned Parenthood crowd, Woodward's sentence suggests that RU-486 acts as an abortifacient drug. That's true but still a rare thing to hear from a MSM reporter. Too bad he only admitted it in a move to defend yet another abortifacient.
Anyhow, am I pleased about Judge Leighton's ruling? Yes and no. "No" that a judge had to weigh in on this matter at all. "No" that our constitutional republic has become so distorted that our courts act like a a citizen's rights come not from God but from government. And "No" that his honor's ruling included a provision that a conscientious pharmacist must refer to one who isn't.
But, looking at the alternative, I have to say a sad and restrained, "Yes."
