Pharmacies must fill all drug orders, including Plan B pill, state rules

Despite objections from abortion opponents and some pharmacists, the state's Board of Pharmacy on Thursday voted unanimously to require pharmacies to fill all lawful prescriptions, including those for the emergency contraceptive known as "Plan B" or the "morning-after pill."

The rules, which will take effect in mid-June, allow individual pharmacists to opt out of filling an order, as long as someone else at the pharmacy then fills it.

The vote closes what has been a heated controversy pitting some pharmacists who believe Plan B causes abortion against women's-health advocates. The board received 40,567 comments, including signatures on petitions, e-mailed comments to the board's Web page, phone calls, hearing sign-ins and letters. Of those signing petitions, a majority supported the rules: 11,326 to 5,368. Of the other comments, 11,531 supported the rules and 12,342 opposed them.

Plan B is not the same as the abortion pill RU-486. It does not affect an existing pregnancy. It prevents pregnancy in most cases by halting ovulation or preventing fertilization. In some cases, it may prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

State law defines pregnancy as the implantation of an embryo in the uterus. However, some people argue that thwarting the implantation amounts to abortion.

Rebecca Hille, who chairs the state pharmacy board, said the new rules deal with all legally prescribed medications, not just Plan B.

"Patients have the right to receive safe and appropriate medication without delay," she said.

Darlene Wilson, a pharmacist and consultant, renewed complaints that the new rules could prove to be a hardship on small, independent businesses that might not have two pharmacists on duty.

Now patient access to Plan B "will not be undermined by personal, non-medical judgments," said Karen Cooper, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.

The rules, WAC 246-869-010 and WAC 246-863-095, are available at the Department of Health Web site: www.doh.wa.gov

Carol M. Ostrom: 206-464-2249

Information in this article, originally published April 13, was corrected April 18. A previous version of this story said the state pharmacy board had received more than 21,000 comments, the majority of them opposing rules requiring pharmacies to fill lawful prescriptions, regardless of an individual pharmacist's personal objections to dispensing particular drugs. That number included only written letters and comments and was not current. A more current and accurate figure, which includes signatures on petitions, e-mailed comments to the board's Web page, phone calls, hearing sign-ins and letters, is 40,567. Of those signing petitions, a majority supported the rules: 11,326 to 5,368. Of the other comments, 11,531 supported the rules and 12,342 opposed them.