On November 8, 2007, a judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Washington issued an injunction suspending a Washington state law that would have required pharmacists to dispense Plan B emergency contraceptives, the so-called "morning-after pill." The injunction effectively created a "refuse and refer" system, allowing pharmacists to refuse to sell the pill if they refer the customer to another nearby source. The state law was later upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Learn more about lawsuits regarding emergency contraception from the JURIST news archive.