Washington pharmacists who have religious objections to abortion or birth control can't send customers to another store for emergency contraception, a federal appeals court ruled today.

In a case watched closely by advocates of personal religious freedom and women's rights, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a trial court ruling in favor of an Olympia store and two pharmacists in their eight-year fight against a state regulation that pharmacies must make Plan B and other emergency contraception available. A pharmacist with a religious objection to the drug can refuse to fill a prescription only if another pharmacist at the store is available who will, the state had said.

The owners of Ralph's Thriftway, a supermarket and pharmacy in Olympia, and two pharmacists challenged rules established by the Washington Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission as they were going into effect in 2007. They argued the rules would force them to supply the drug violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion. They believe life begins at the moment of conception, and the drugs can keep a fertilized egg from being implanted, so they regard it as a form of abortion that takes a human life.

Not everyone agrees with that belief, the appeals court said, and it was not willing to recognize that as a new fundamental right that would allow a business to ignore a rational regulation. The commission did set up a rational reason for its regulation, which the record indicates is to ensure patients timely access to medicines without allowing pharmacists to refuse different medicines for personal, moral objections.

The commission wasn't guilty of selective enforcement against Ralph's but not against Catholic-affiliated hospitals, the appeals court said. There may be other pharmacies that don't fill prescriptions for Plan B, but the commission bases enforcement on customer complaints; it received complaints against Ralph's but not against any Catholic-affiliated hospitals, the court said.

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