Religion
Related: About this forumDid SCOTUS Just Restore Sanity To Religious Liberty Debate?
BY PATRICIA MILLER
JUNE 29, 2016
Largely lost in the (understandable) hubbub about the Supreme Courts historic Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt abortion decision was its action the following day that may recast the parameters of the religious liberty debate.
On Tuesday, the court declined to hear a challenge to a Washington State law that requires pharmacies to dispense emergency contraception even if the owners of the pharmacy have a religious objection to the medication because they believe (incorrectly, as far as science is concerned) that it is an abortifacient.
The decision not to hear the case engendered a blistering dissent from Justice Samuel Alito, who questioned the need for such laws and called it an ominous sign for religious liberty:
And hes right. The courts decision not to hear the case brought by Ralphs Thriftway, a grocery store and pharmacy in Olympia, Washington that refuses to dispense the Plan B emergency contraceptive, does have broad implications for the future of such cases. Only the courts hardline conservativesAlito, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomasvoted to take the case, leaving it one vote short of the four needed to gain a full court review.
http://religiondispatches.org/did-scotus-just-restore-sanity-to-religious-liberty-debate/
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)another's rights and liberties.