A woman who sued a Minnesota pharmacist after he acted within his legal rights by not dispensing emergency contraception to her is appealing the ruling of an Aitkin County jury that ruled in favor of the pharmacist.
Court documents show that in 2019, Andrea Anderson’s doctor sent a prescription for the “emergency contraception” drug Ella to Thrifty White pharmacy. The pharmacy did not have the drug in stock, but a Thrifty White pharmacy tech put Ella on the drug-order list to arrive the following day for Anderson.
That next day, pharmacists Anthony Grand and George Badeaux were scheduled to work at Thrifty White. Grand was willing to dispense Ella, but Badeaux was not, because in addition to preventing fertilization, “emergency contraception” is said by some experts to have the potential to kill a newly created human being by preventing implantation. The threat of a serious snowstorm meant Grand and/or Badeaux might not make it to work the next day.
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Badeaux called Anderson to tell her that Ella would arrive at Thrifty White the following day but that if the storm prevented Grand from arriving at the pharmacy, Badeaux would not be able to dispense the drug. He offered to transfer the prescription to CVS or a pharmacy of her choice. She opted to send it to Walgreens and Badeaux transferred the prescription there and Anderson obtained it the next day. But while speaking with Badeaux, Anderson became angry and threatened “to do something about this.”
Then she submitted complaints and contacted NARAL Pro-Choice, the National Women’s Law Center, and Gender Justice. Anderson sued Thrifty White and Badeaux for alleged discrimination based on sex.
According to Minnesota Public Radio, the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy allows pharmacists to deny prescriptions for emergency contraceptives if they conflict with a pharmacist’s personal beliefs.
In August 2022, a jury ruled that Badeaux did not violate a woman’s civil rights under state law, but said Anderson was entitled to $25,000 in damages due to emotional harm. She will not receive that money unless the Minnesota Court of Appeals rules that Badeaux did discriminate against her.
Charles Shreffler, Badeaux’s attorney, explained, “In order for [Badeaux] to be liable for damages, he has to be found liable. The jury has to first find that he discriminated against Ms. Anderson on the basis of her sex, and the jury specifically found that he did not discriminate against her.”
Oral arguments at the Court of Appeals were heard on December 21, 2023.
