April 6, 2009

(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), focusing on constitutional law, said today it's pleased with an important victory in its ongoing litigation to protect the conscience rights of pharmacists in the State of Illinois. On Friday, April 3, 2009, the Circuit Court in Springfield, Illinois issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Governor of Illinois and other state officials, ordering them not to enforce a 2005 administrative regulation that required all pharmacies to dispense Plan B and other forms of abortion producing drugs.

"This is yet another step on the road to full protection for the rights of conscience of all health care workers," said Francis J. Manion, ACLJ Senior Counsel who argued the motion for the TRO on behalf of the pharmacists.  "In ruling in favor of our clients, the court rejected the attempt of Illinois officials to trample on the rights of our clients and disregard existing laws passed by the legislature for the very purpose of protecting those rights.  We will continue to press this issue until we have obtained full protection for the conscience rights of these professionals who should not have to choose between their deeply held religious beliefs and license revocation and other penalties."

In issuing the Order, Judge John Belz found that the regulation posed a real threat of irreparable harm to pharmacists with religious objections to selling such drugs and that the ACLJ's clients -- Luke VanderBleek and Glenn Kosirog -- two pharmacists who own five pharmacies between them -- were "likely to succeed" on the merits of their claim that the regulation violates the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act.   A hearing on the pharmacists' request for a permanent injunction will be held sometime in June.

This case is one of a number of lawsuits the ACLJ has been involved in Illinois since 2005 when then-Governor Rod Blagojevich, at the urging of Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other pro-abortion groups, issued an Executive Order that targeted pro-life pharmacists who objected to dispensing abortion causing drugs.

In Menges v. Blagojevich, et al., the ACLJ represented seven individual pharmacists who succeeded in having the state amend the regulation to recognize the conscience rights of individual pharmacists.  In Vandersand v. Walmart and Quayle, et al. v. Walgreens, the ACLJ convinced two other courts that Illinois pharmacists are protected by the State's Health Care Right of Conscience Act. The current case, Morr-Fitz et al. v. Blagojevich, et al., seeks to ensure that pro-life pharmacy owners -- not just individual pharmacists -- receive the legal protection to which they are entitled under state laws as well as the U.S. Constitution. The ACLJ is co-counsel in the Morr-Fitz case with Mark Rienzi of Wilmer Hale in Washington, D.C.

"All the conscience laws in the world will only be effective if those whose rights are endangered are ready to fight attempts by government and private entities to ignore them," said Manion. "We will continue to fight for pro-life health care workers to ensure that existing laws have the teeth in them needed to be effective."

This legal victory comes as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services continues to solicit public comment on President Obama's plan to rescind Conscience Clause protections at the federal level that have been in place to protect the rights of pro-life medical personnel.   The ACLJ has heard from more than 200,000 Americans urging President Obama to reconsider and keep the Conscience Clause protections in place.  The HHS public comment period ends this week.

The ACLJ has been and remains at the forefront of litigation to protect the religious freedom and conscience rights of health care professionals. 

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.