In a case believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, an Aitkin County, Minnesota jury will decide this week whether the human rights of a rural Minnesota woman were violated when her local pharmacist refused to fill a prescription for emergency contraception.
Andrea Anderson is a mother of five from McGregor, Minnesota and sought the morning after pill in January of 2019. She was denied by George Badeaux, a pharmacist and then manager of a Thrifty White in McGregor. He refused to fill the prescription, citing his beliefs that it would cause an abortion.
Scientific testimony disputes that claim.
Badeaux told Anderson that a pharmacist working the following day could fill it if a snowstorm didn't prevent the pharmacist from getting to work.
Anderson eventually got her prescription filled at a pharmacy in Brainerd, Minnesota, making the round-trip of more than 100 miles in wintry driving conditions.
Jury selection began Monday, and the case is expected to conclude before the end of the week.
This case is meeting even extra scrutiny after the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion put the onus back on states to determine what is legally allowed. Women across the country have been stocking up on contraceptives with sales of morning after pills skyrocketing.
And for the first time, a pharmaceutical company has asked for permission to sell a birth control pill over the counter in the U.S.
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