Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Here is some good news for Christian pharmacies: a federal court just ruled in favor of a Roman Catholic pharmacist who sued the Biden administration over its mandate that pharmacies accepting Medicare and Medicaid must stock and dispense drugs that could induce abortions.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued so-called guidance to pharmacies on stocking and dispensing these drugs. Dr. Kevin Martian, owner of Mayo Pharmacy in North Dakota, opposes abortion for religious reasons. He sued HHS to stop the mandate’s enforcement.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Dr. Martian’s legal counsel, had added him to a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas challenging the HHS mandate.
In rejecting the Biden administration’s bid to dismiss the case, the court said that what is “most troubling is the trending technique federal agencies are using as standard strategy in implementing the executive branch’s policy goals in contravention of the rule of law.”
As expected, based on those comments, the court ruled against HHS.
“The Revised Guidance does not require Plaintiffs to dispense drugs for
abortion purposes,” the court said (PDF). “The Revised Guidance does not require Plaintiffs to dispense drugs for nonabortion purposes when doing so would violate Texas’s abortion laws or Mayo’s sincerely held religious beliefs.”
This is a victory for Christians and for ADF.
“Unelected bureaucrats can’t force Americans to dispense abortion-inducing drugs against their conscience,” ADF senior counsel Matt Bowman said. He believes the ruling “will likely stop any future attempts by HHS to use this guidance to open a burdensome investigation against our client, Mayo Pharmacy in North Dakota, or pharmacies in Texas if they decline to dispense abortion drugs.”
Photo credit: Robin Marty (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved
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