In March, attorneys for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) added their client, Mayo Pharmacy, to a lawsuit that had been filed by the state of Texas.
As a Catholic, Kevin Martian, PharmD, who operates the independent pharmacy in Bismarck, North Dakota, believes dispensing abortion-inducing drugs would violate his religious beliefs.
"Pharmacists should be free to live out their religious beliefs," ADF attorney Andrea Dill told AFN in March. "The Biden administration has attempted to require pharmacies that receive federal funding to dispense drugs for abortion purposes, even if the pharmacy or pharmacist has religious objections to doing so."
In addition to being illegal, Dill said the mandate also "directly conflicts with federal and state law and violates the religious exercise rights of pharmacies across the nation, including Mayo Pharmacy."
The mandate dates back to July 2022, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told pharmacies that serve patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or other federally funded coverage to stock and dispense elective abortion drugs.
The Biden administration threatens legal action against any pharmacy or pharmacist that does not comply.
"We urge the court to reject this unlawful attempt by the executive branch to usurp the right of states to protect innocent, unborn lives," Dill maintains.
State of Texas and Mayo Pharmacy v. Becerra is filed at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland/Odessa Division.
