Local News | Judges strike broad ban on Washington's Plan B rules | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Judges strike broad ban on Washington's Plan B rules | Seattle Times Newspaper: "Judges strike broad ban on Washington's Plan B rules

OLYMPIA - Federal appeals judges say a lower court was wrong when it blocked Washington state's rules mandating the sale of 'morning-after' birth control pills.

By CURT WOODWARD

The Associated Press

OLYMPIA — A federal judge overreached when he sided with religious-freedom arguments to block Washington state's rules mandating the sale of 'morning-after' birth control, appeals judges said Wednesday.

The unanimous ruling, from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sends the politically thorny case back to U.S. District Court for further review.

The case revolves around the drug Plan B, a contraceptive that can greatly reduce the chances of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

Some pharmacists and drugstore owners, however, say they can't sell the pills in good conscience because they consider Plan B's effect on potential pregnancies too similar to abortion.

Plan B contains a high dose of a drug found in many regular birth-control pills, and prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg.

It also may prevent a fertilized egg from implanting into the uterus, although recent research suggests that is unlikely. Plan B is not the abortion pill RU-486."