In a case believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, an Aitkin County jury this week will decide 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, a mother of five from McGregor, Minnesota, sought a morning-after pill after a condom broke during sex. Her pharmacist, citing his beliefs, refused to fill the prescription. She sued under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, including issues related to pregnancy and childbirth.
As contraception has moved to the center of the national political debate — with the U.S. House of Representatives last week passing a bill that would guarantee the right to contraception under federal law — the decision in Anderson's case could rouse activists on both sides of the issue.
