By TRISHA AHMED (Associated Press/Report for America)
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that a pharmacist in St. Paul, Minnesota, was guilty of discrimination for refusing to provide emergency contraceptives to a customer due to his personal beliefs.
In 2019, pharmacist George Badeaux declined to fill a prescription for emergency contraception, leading the three-judge panel to conclude that he had discriminated against the customer. The customer had to travel about 100 miles (160 kilometers) to another pharmacy to get the prescription filled.
The customer, Andrea Anderson, later sued for discrimination under Minnesota’s Human Rights Act.
In the ruling, Judge Jeanne Cochran stated that Badeaux’s refusal to dispense emergency contraception based on potential interference with a pregnancy constitutes sex discrimination.
The decision from the appeals court means the case could go to the Minnesota Supreme Court or back to district court. A jury previously found no discrimination by the pharmacist but awarded Anderson $25,000 for emotional harm.
Jess Braverman, an attorney for Anderson and the legal director of Gender Justice, called this ruling possibly the first of its kind in the country to identify a refusal to dispense emergency contraception as a form of sex discrimination. Alison Tanner of the National Women’s Law Center agreed.
Braverman emphasized that the ruling sends a clear message to Minnesota businesses that they cannot reject patients in need of reproductive health care.
Rory Gray, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, representing Badeaux, criticized the decision citing George's Christian beliefs and constitutional freedom to act accordingly while at work.
Anderson attempted, but failed, to purchase the emergency contraception called Ella at the drug store, which was previously owned by Aitkin Pharmacy Services. An attorney for the business did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Gender Justice appealed last year's jury ruling, arguing that Badeaux's refusal to fill the prescription for a drug only prescribed to women was discriminatory.
In 2015, Badeaux also declined to provide Plan B, another type of emergency contraception, leading to a complaint to the pharmacy’s owner.
The owner and Badeaux then developed a plan for dispensing emergency contraception, involving getting another pharmacist to fill the prescription the same or next day, or transferring it elsewhere.
Tanner, from the National Women’s Law Center, stated that the Monday ruling is significant because there should be no delay in accessing emergency contraception for those who need it. It's a time-sensitive medicine.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court removed constitutional protections for abortion in 2022, some states have broadened access to emergency contraceptives and birth control, while others have limited access and enforced abortion bans.
According to the American Society for Emergency Contraception, numerous universities nationwide now stock emergency contraceptives in vending machines. Some, like the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, are located in states where abortion is mostly prohibited.
Even though Minnesota has safeguarded abortion access, neighboring states have prohibited or significantly restricted the procedure.
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Trisha Ahmed works as a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national service program that assigns journalists to local newsrooms to cover under-reported issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15
