Bill puts Plan B fight on agenda

A Democratic senator from Kent, Wash., has filed a bill that would force pharmacies such as Ralph’s in Olympia to dispense all legal medications in a timely manner. The bill would cover the Plan B emergency contraceptive that has spurred a federal court case.

The bill is the latest step in a widening political battle over the rights of religious objectors and of advocates of reproductive rights.

Ralph’s co-owner Kevin Stormans and two pharmacists have won a federal court order barring the state from requiring pharmacies to stock Plan B – or to ensure that pharmacies dispense medications normally needed by local customers.

Sen. Karen Keiser says she thinks her idea avoids legal pitfalls and would make Washington first in the nation to adopt such a policy.

“We’re in new territory here,” Keiser said Wednesday, promising a hearing in next year’s legislative session before the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee that she leads. “If they are going to have a state license to operate, I think they have several different standards they have to meet. One is not to discriminate. Another is to dispense all legal medications. Another is to ensure public health and safety.”

Keiser added that her bill does not require stores to keep every drug on the shelves. But it would require that pharmacies file a declaration at the time of licensing that they are “in compliance with the duty to timely dispense all legal prescriptions,” according to a news release describing her proposal.

Democratic Rep. Brendan Williams, of Olympia, has said he might propose an identical bill in the House but is looking into the nuances of the federal court injunction this year that favored Ralph’s Thriftway in its refusal to stock Plan B.

“I think there is an expectation something is going to get done on this. … My biggest concern is that we get it right,” Williams said.

Any attempt to limit pharmacists’ rights of conscience could run into additional legal challenges.

The Keiser bill might be vulnerable, said Kristen K. Waggoner, a Seattle attorney representing Stormans and two pharmacists in the ongoing federal lawsuit.

“I think it’s something we would want to look closer at. It’s clearly one more step in the targeting that’s occurred,” she said. “It’s being sponsored by legislators who have been closely involved with the action the Board of Pharmacy has taken against Stormans. … They are targeting the right of conscience. They are prohibiting it.”

The Alliance Defense Fund is assisting the lawsuit that blocked the Department of Health’s investigation into Stormans’ refusal on religious grounds to stock or dispense Plan B. The group describes itself as a Christian legal alliance of more than 1,100 attorneys nationwide who defend religious liberty and other issues.

The federal court ruling that backed Stormans’ view this fall faces an appeal by several groups.