The controversial order from Health and Human Services, announced a year ago this month, told pharmacies to stock their shelves with elective abortion drugs if serve patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or other federally-funded coverage.
In March, attorneys for Alliance Defending Freedom added their client, Mayo Pharmacy, to a lawsuit against HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra (pictured below) that was filed by the state of Texas. That lawsuit was filed in February of this year.
Mayo, an independent pharmacy located in Bismarck, North Dakota, is owned by pharmacist Kevin Martian. As a pro-life Catholic, he objects to being forced by the federal government to dispense abortion-inducing drugs.
ADF attorney Andrea Dill tells AFN both the U.S. Constitution and federal law protect every pharmacist’s right to practice his or her religion.
“They have the right to freely live out their religious beliefs,” she insists, “including the right to refuse to dispense abortion-inducing drugs."
Not only did the federal district court rule Wednesday to allow Mayo Pharmacy to join the lawsuit, the court opinion openly accused the Biden administration of operating “by fiat” in numerous cases by cleverly working around court rulings and laws. It is doing so, the court concluded, by implementing rules that appear to be minor changes - "compartmentalization" - but are part of a bigger effort to create and enforce a policy.
“What’s more, this compartmentalization of executive policy in an effort to avoid legal consequence is done in the open for all to see, though no one is supposed to notice,” the court stated. “Those days are gone; the Court notices.”
