CIVIL SUIT

Minnesota Pharmacist Goes on Trial for Refusing to Prescribe Morning After Pill

George Badeaux, a pharmacist who also works as a pastor, refused to fill Andrea Anderson’s prescription, her lawsuit states, citing “personal reasons.”

A pharmacist from a tiny Minnesota town is being sued in a case believed to be the first time a woman refused emergency contraception in the U.S. will bring the matter to trial. Andrea Anderson, a mother of five in rural McGregor, contends that after a condom broke during sex, she rushed to get her hands on a morning-after pill. But the pharmacist named in her suit, George Badeaux, refused to fill her prescription. She accused Badeaux citing “personal reasons,” later clarifying that his “beliefs” prevented him from doing so. The suit says that Badeaux, who also works as a pastor, stonewalled Anderson on any information that might have helped her get the medication elsewhere so she drove to a pharmacy 50 miles away, a three-hour round-trip made worse by a snowstorm. Anderson has sued Badeaux under a statute in the Minnesota Human Rights Acts that prohibits discrimination based on sex. The case, which has taken more than three years to reach trial, is expected to conclude this week.