Illinois Circuit Judge John Belz ruled that the state law forcing pharmacists to dispense the "morning-after" pill violates their right of conscience and the First Amendment. The attorney general plans to appeal the decision, thus extending the nearly-six year battle.
For background, read Illinois Pharmacists Winning Legal Battle over 'Morning-after' Pill
UPDATE 12/11/12: Illinois attorney general will NOT appeal ruling
-- From "Wheaton pharmacist wins 'morning-after' case" by The Associated Press 4/6/11
Pharmacists Glenn Kosirog of Wheaton and Luke VanderBleek and the three drug stores they operate sued over the 2005 rule imposed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. A circuit court originally dismissed the claim, but the state Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that a court must hear it.
Francis Manion, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice and the plaintiffs' attorney, called the decision "a major victory for the rights of conscience."
"Plan B" emergency contraception contains a high dose of birth control pills and can be used to prevent pregnancy if taken within three days of unprotected sex by blocking ovulation or fertilization. Critics of the contraceptive say it is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it can prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Judge says pharmacists can refuse to dispense 'morning-after' pills" by Dean Olsen, The State Journal-Register 4/5/11
“We’re thrilled,” Mark Rienzi, a Catholic University law professor and one of the pharmacy owners’ lawyers, said after the ruling. “The law of Illinois and the law of the United States make it clear that people can enter the health-care profession without having to check their conscience or religion at the door.”
The pharmacy owners, both of whom are pharmacists, oppose emergency contraception on religious grounds.
Even though lawyers for the state argued otherwise, Belz ruled that pharmacies and pharmacists are protected by the Illinois Healthcare Right of Conscience Act, as well as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, when they refuse to perform services on moral grounds.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Illinois Pharmacists Win Key Victory on Morning After Pill" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 4/5/11
“Today’s decision is a major victory for the rights of conscience,” Manion told LifeNews. “After six long years of litigation, our clients have finally prevailed against a state government determined to coerce them and all pro-life pharmacists into violating their deeply held religious beliefs or give up their livelihoods. Judge Belz’s decision makes clear that both Illinois state law and the First Amendment will not permit this. This country was founded by people with a strong commitment to religious freedom. That’s why freedom of religion is the first freedom protected in the Bill of Rights. For government at any level to try to run roughshod over that freedom is to abdicate the government’s primary responsibility.”
In his ruling, Judge Belz noted that “The government asserts that this Rule serves a compelling interest in timely access to drugs. Yet the government concedes that it had never done anything to advance its asserted interest prior to April 2010. Even as to emergency contraception, the Court heard no evidence of a single person who ever was unable to obtain emergency contraception because of a religious objection.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Click headlines below to read previous articles:
'Morning-after' Pill Gone at Pharmacists Choosing in WA
US Court Rules Pharmacists Must Have Rights of Conscience Respected
No Freedom of Conscience for Pharmacists Says Bill Passed by New Jersey Legislature
Pharmicists' Freedom of Conscience Threatened at the Federal Level
Appeals Court Rules Against Pharmacist Seeking Religious Rights Protection
NARAL Bullies Kroger over Abortion Drug
Showing posts with label Blagojevich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blagojevich. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
IL Pharmacists Winning Legal Battle over 'Morning-after' Pill
Sangamon County, Illinois Circuit Judge John Belz issued a temporary restraining order halting the governor's order forcing pharmacists to dispense the Plan B and other abortion-inducing drugs.
-- From "Ill. can't force dispensing 'morning-after' pill" Associated Press 4/6/09
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in December that the pharmacists' case must be heard. The court decided then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who issued a rule in 2005 ordering pharmacies to dispense the so-called "morning-after" pill, had made statements indicating there would be no exceptions.
Belz is the same judge who sided with the state and dismissed the lawsuit filed in 2005 by Luke VanderBleek and Glenn Kosirog, who own five northern Illinois pharmacies between them.
"You cannot enact a law that targets people because of their religious objection," Manion said Monday.
The restraining order applies only to VanderBleek's and Kosirog's pharmacies. But Francis Manion of the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing the pharmacists, doubts the state would enforce the rule elsewhere before the case is decided.
Manion expects a hearing Belz's court in June.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Ill. can't force dispensing 'morning-after' pill" Associated Press 4/6/09
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in December that the pharmacists' case must be heard. The court decided then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who issued a rule in 2005 ordering pharmacies to dispense the so-called "morning-after" pill, had made statements indicating there would be no exceptions.
Belz is the same judge who sided with the state and dismissed the lawsuit filed in 2005 by Luke VanderBleek and Glenn Kosirog, who own five northern Illinois pharmacies between them.
"You cannot enact a law that targets people because of their religious objection," Manion said Monday.
The restraining order applies only to VanderBleek's and Kosirog's pharmacies. But Francis Manion of the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing the pharmacists, doubts the state would enforce the rule elsewhere before the case is decided.
Manion expects a hearing Belz's court in June.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
IL Supremes Allow Challenge to Gov. Blago Order
In the 5-to-2 decision, Pharmacists Luke Vander Bleek and Glen Kosirog gain ground against Gov. Rod Blagojevich's 2005 executive order (later to become an administrative regulation) requiring all Illinois pharmacists to dispense contraceptives, including the morning-after pill.
-- From "Illinois Supreme Court rules on pharmacists' 'right of conscience' case" Chicago Tribune 12/18/08
Vander Bleek and Kosirog alleged the governor’s action violated deeply held religious convictions: Both men are convinced that the drug can act as an abortion-causing agent.
A Sangamon County circuit court dismissed the pharmacy owners’ in 2005, arguing they had not demonstrated clear evidence of harm from Blagojevich’s order, and a divided appellate court upheld that decision last year.
The Supreme Court decided the plaintiffs had presented sufficient evidence of potential harm to warrant having their case heard in court. For instance, Vander Bleek said he closed a pharmacy in Prophetstown because he wasn’t able to recruit a pharmacist. Also, the court noted, the administrative rule was amended in the settlement of a separate lawsuit last year, providing grounds for a reconsideration of the case.
“It’s not a grand slam but it’s a home run,” said Francis Manion, co-counsel for the pharmacists and an attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice in Washington, D.C. “Until today, this case was going nowhere. Now it’s back in full force.”
“The court avoided the merits of the [pharmacists’] claim; all they did was say, procedurally, the case has to go back to the trial court for further consideration,” said Lorie Chaiten, director of the reproductive rights project at the ACLU of Illinois.
Before the governor intervened in 2005, Planned Parenthood was receiving several calls a month from women complaining that pharmacists had refused to fill prescriptions for contraceptives.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Illinois Supreme Court rules on pharmacists' 'right of conscience' case" Chicago Tribune 12/18/08
Vander Bleek and Kosirog alleged the governor’s action violated deeply held religious convictions: Both men are convinced that the drug can act as an abortion-causing agent.
A Sangamon County circuit court dismissed the pharmacy owners’ in 2005, arguing they had not demonstrated clear evidence of harm from Blagojevich’s order, and a divided appellate court upheld that decision last year.
The Supreme Court decided the plaintiffs had presented sufficient evidence of potential harm to warrant having their case heard in court. For instance, Vander Bleek said he closed a pharmacy in Prophetstown because he wasn’t able to recruit a pharmacist. Also, the court noted, the administrative rule was amended in the settlement of a separate lawsuit last year, providing grounds for a reconsideration of the case.
“It’s not a grand slam but it’s a home run,” said Francis Manion, co-counsel for the pharmacists and an attorney with the American Center for Law and Justice in Washington, D.C. “Until today, this case was going nowhere. Now it’s back in full force.”
“The court avoided the merits of the [pharmacists’] claim; all they did was say, procedurally, the case has to go back to the trial court for further consideration,” said Lorie Chaiten, director of the reproductive rights project at the ACLU of Illinois.
Before the governor intervened in 2005, Planned Parenthood was receiving several calls a month from women complaining that pharmacists had refused to fill prescriptions for contraceptives.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Good News! US Court Rules Pharmacists Must Have Rights of Conscience Respected
Lawyer says, “We forced the most pro-abortion Governor (Blagojevich) in the country to eat his words and to backtrack a long way."
From "US Court Rules Pharmacists Must Have Rights of Conscience Respected" by Hilary White, posted 10/17/07 at Lifesite.org
ST. LOUIS, Illinois, October 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The rights of pharmacists and other health care professionals to refuse to dispense abortifacient drugs have taken a step forward, according to a statement from the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). A long running dispute between the state of Illinois, pharmacy owners such as Walgreens and Walmart stores and several pharmacists who refused to dispense abortifacient drugs has resulted in an agreement that pharmacists must be allowed to opt out.
In 2005, Walgreens pharmacist Rich Quayle was suspended from his job and said he would look for other work rather than agree to dispense the morning after pill in accord with a recently passed law. In April 2005, Governor Rod Blagojevich said that the “right of conscience does not apply to pharmacists” and issued an edict attempting to force all pharmacists in the state to distribute the drugs.
Unfortunately this won't help pharmacy owners who do not wish to stock abortifacient drugs. A Morrison pharmacy owner is hoping the Illinois Supreme Court will protect his right of conscience.
Read the whole article.
From "US Court Rules Pharmacists Must Have Rights of Conscience Respected" by Hilary White, posted 10/17/07 at Lifesite.org
ST. LOUIS, Illinois, October 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The rights of pharmacists and other health care professionals to refuse to dispense abortifacient drugs have taken a step forward, according to a statement from the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). A long running dispute between the state of Illinois, pharmacy owners such as Walgreens and Walmart stores and several pharmacists who refused to dispense abortifacient drugs has resulted in an agreement that pharmacists must be allowed to opt out.
In 2005, Walgreens pharmacist Rich Quayle was suspended from his job and said he would look for other work rather than agree to dispense the morning after pill in accord with a recently passed law. In April 2005, Governor Rod Blagojevich said that the “right of conscience does not apply to pharmacists” and issued an edict attempting to force all pharmacists in the state to distribute the drugs.
Unfortunately this won't help pharmacy owners who do not wish to stock abortifacient drugs. A Morrison pharmacy owner is hoping the Illinois Supreme Court will protect his right of conscience.
Read the whole article.
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