Illinois pharmacist sues to avoid filling ‘morning-after pill’ prescriptions News
Illinois pharmacist sues to avoid filling ‘morning-after pill’ prescriptions

[JURIST] Illinois pharmacist Luke Vander Bleek has filed suit to oppose a state order that the emergency contraceptive "morning-after pill" be made available immediately. Vander Bleek, a Roman Catholic who owns two pharmacies, claims that the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act [text] that allows health care providers to opt out of procedures they object to for moral reasons, allows him to refrain from selling certain contraceptives. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich [official website] issued a rule April 1, 2005 demanding that pharmacists make the pill available [press release] "without delay." Blagojevich's spokeswoman said that once a pharmacist begins selling some contraceptives he must sell all products in that category regardless of moral beliefs. Two other Illinois pharmacists [AP report] filed a similar suit in April, soon after the order was issued. Vander Bleek is represented in the current litigation by Americans United for Life [advocacy website], who have issued this press release and have posted a copy of the complaint [PDF]. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.