The pharmacist is a local pastor.
QUICK FACTS:
- A Minnesota jury determined on Friday that a pharmacist’s refusal to fill a prescription for a morning after pill due to his religious beliefs did not violate the woman’s civil rights.
- The jury said the pharmacist, George Badeaux, did not violate state law, but that the plaintiff, Andrea Anderson, was emotionally harmed and should be entitled to $25,000 in damages.
- “We are incredibly happy with the jury’s decision,” attorney Charles Shreffler said in a statement. “Medical professionals should be free to practice their professions in line with their beliefs.”
- Anders was represented by attorneys from Gender Justice who asserted that the discrimination was due to Anderson’s gender.
- Badeaux, a local preacher who has been dispensing medications from the McGregor Thrifty White pharmacy for 40 years, refused to fill Anderson’s prescription because he felt it would go against his beliefs.
RESPONSE FROM THE PLAINTIFF:
- “I can’t help but wonder about the other women who may be turned away,” Anderson said in a statement. “What if they accept the pharmacist’s decision and don’t realize that this behavior is wrong? What if they have no other choice? Not everyone has the means or ability to drive hundreds of miles to get a prescription filled.”
- “Like anywhere, there are challenges to living in a rural area,” Anderson complained in a statement from her attorneys at Gender Justice. “But I never expected that they would include the personal beliefs of our local pharmacists, or that they would hold — and wield — such enormous decision-making power over my life. I can only hope that by coming forward and pursuing justice that others don’t have to jump the ridiculous hurdles I did,” she said.
BACKGROUND:
- Anderson filed the Minnesota Human Rights Act lawsuit against Badeaux and the pharmacy he works for three years ago, in what appears to be a first-of-its-kind case.
- The plaintiff stated that her suit rose out of her desire to obtain the abortion pills and which caused her to travel 100 miles round trip to get the contraceptive, so Anderson filed a civil lawsuit against pharmacist George Badeaux in 2019. Anderson said she plans to appeal the jury verdict to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
