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Crime, Law and Justice
Peter Cox

Appeals court hears arguments in case of woman denied emergency contraceptive pill

A single pill in a container.
An emergency contraception pill is seen through packaging.
Photo by Sophia Moss

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The Minnesota Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday from attorneys of a woman who was denied a prescription contraceptive pill by a pharmacist in Aitkin County in 2019.

Last year, a jury in that county found that the Thrifty White pharmacist, George Badeaux, did not discriminate against Andrea Anderson when he declined to fill her prescription for Ella, an emergency contraceptive pill, for “personal reasons.”

The lawsuit said he might have a colleague willing to fill it, but with a snowstorm coming, that person may not make it to work. Anderson instead drove 100 miles round trip to Brainerd — through a snowstorm — to get the prescription filled.

Anderson’s attorneys appealed the jury’s decision and brought their argument to the higher court in Saint Paul Thursday.

Attorney Jess Braverman argued that Thrifty White’s policy denied her full and equal access to goods and services, and “singles out customers by their protected status.”

“There are two legal issues that are crucial to getting this case right. There are issues that the district court got wrong and that defendants are urging this court to get wrong as well,” Braverman said. “Those two crucial issues are, first, the proper definition of discriminatory motive or discriminatory intent. And, second, whether a policy singling out emergency contraception is disparate treatment based on sex under Minnesota law.”

Rory Gray, an attorney for Badeaux, said his client followed state law and did his best to serve Anderson.

“The drug Ella wasn’t in the pharmacy when Ms. Anderson requested it. So a tech placed it on the next day’s order list. Mr. Badeaux kept it there,” Gray told the court. “He wanted to find a win-win situation where Ms. Anderson got her prescription, and he was excused. And that decision was based on the product and its function, not the person.”

The state pharmacy board allows pharmacists to decline to fill a prescription for emergency contraceptives if it conflicts with their beliefs, but they must make other arrangements to get the patient their medication.

An answer from the Court of Appeals is expected in the first few months of 2024.