In 2019, George Badeaux, the pharmacist at Thrifty White in Minnesota, declined to fill Andrea Anderson's prescription for Ella, or a "morning after pill," based on his faith. She found a different pharmacy to fill her prescription but filed a discrimination lawsuit against Badeaux, which she lost.
"He wasn't discriminating against anyone because of who they were; he was making a choice based on what the product was," explains John Bursch of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). "He wasn't willing to sell an abortifacient to anybody because he knew that it could be used to end an innocent human life."
That, he says, has nothing to do with Anderson's gender.
"The thing is if she had a prescription for this abortifacient and sent it to her boyfriend or her husband, then the pharmacist, Mr. Badeaux, would not fill that prescription for the man, either," Bursch asserts.
He believes his client is protected by federal and state law.
"Specifically in Minnesota, there's a statute that prohibits anyone from being punished for declining to accommodate or participate in an abortion," the attorney references. "That protects the very conscience rights that are at issue here."
A jury ruled last year that Badeaux did not discriminate against Anderson, but Gender Justice, an advocacy organization for gender equity, and other lawyers for Anderson appealed that ruling this year.
The case is now before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which has 90 days to rule.
