{"id":220,"date":"2009-09-03T15:32:42","date_gmt":"2009-09-03T15:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html"},"modified":"2009-09-03T15:32:42","modified_gmt":"2009-09-03T15:32:42","slug":"protecting-conscience-rights-o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Conscience Rights of Pro-Life Pharmacists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry, there’s been an important development in the long-standing legal battle to protect the rights of pro-life pharmacists in Illinois.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The circuit court sitting in Springfield, Ill. has issued a preliminary injunction in the case of two pharmacy owners, Luke Vander Bleek and Glenn Kosirog<\/a>.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font>Both men have been fighting to protect their conscience rights.  <\/span>We represent the pharmacists in the case of Morr-Fitz, Inc. v. Blagojevich<\/i>.<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the latest victory in an ongoing effort to protect the fundamental right of pharmacists to practice their profession without having to violate their conscience.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the court’s decision, Judge John W. Belz ruled that “Plaintiffs have certain and ascertainable rights under state and federal law.  <\/span>Plaintiffs are suffering irreparable harm in the form of an ongoing chill of their free exercise rights and rights of conscience under federal and state law, as well as unlawful coercion based on their religious and moral beliefs.”<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The judge went on to find that the plaintiffs “have a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims.”<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a result of the injunction, the pharmacists will be permitted to refuse to dispense Plan B and other forms of emergency contraception, if doing so would violate their religious or moral beliefs.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office has repeatedly argued that the Health Care Right of Conscience Act does not apply to the practice of pharmacy.  <\/span>And they have repeatedly failed in their arguments. Our clients are entitled to run their pharmacies according to the dictates of their moral and religious beliefs.  <\/span>This is what the law allows; this is what the court has affirmed.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Menges v. Blagojevich<\/i>, we represented seven individual pharmacists who succeeded in having the state amend the regulation to recognize the conscience rights of individual pharmacists.  <\/span>In Vandersand v. Walmart<\/i> and Quayle v. Walgreens<\/i>, we were successful in convincing two other courts that Illinois pharmacists are protected by the State’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The current case, Morr-Fitz, Inc. v. Blagojevich<\/i>, seeks to ensure that pro-life pharmacy owners – not just individual pharmacists – receive the legal protection to which they are entitled under state laws as well as the U.S. Constitution.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The injunction will remain in place until a final ruling in the case is issued.<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To subscribe to “Lynn v. Sekulow” click <\/font>here<\/font><\/a>.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barry, there’s been an important development in the long-standing legal battle to protect the rights of pro-life pharmacists in Illinois.   The circuit court sitting in Springfield, Ill. has issued a preliminary injunction in the case of two pharmacy owners, Luke Vander Bleek and Glenn Kosirog.  Both men have been fighting to protect their conscience…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-courts","category-pro-life-2"],"yoast_head":"\nProtecting Conscience Rights of Pro-Life Pharmacists - Lynn v. Sekulow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protecting Conscience Rights of Pro-Life Pharmacists - Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barry, there’s been an important development in the long-standing legal battle to protect the rights of pro-life pharmacists in Illinois.   The circuit court sitting in Springfield, Ill. has issued a preliminary injunction in the case of two pharmacy owners, Luke Vander Bleek and Glenn Kosirog.  Both men have been fighting to protect their conscience…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-03T15:32:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jay Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Protecting Conscience Rights of Pro-Life Pharmacists - Lynn v. Sekulow","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Protecting Conscience Rights of Pro-Life Pharmacists - Lynn v. Sekulow","og_description":"Barry, there’s been an important development in the long-standing legal battle to protect the rights of pro-life pharmacists in Illinois.   The circuit court sitting in Springfield, Ill. has issued a preliminary injunction in the case of two pharmacy owners, Luke Vander Bleek and Glenn Kosirog.  Both men have been fighting to protect their conscience…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html","og_site_name":"Lynn v. Sekulow","article_published_time":"2009-09-03T15:32:42+00:00","author":"Jay Sekulow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html","name":"Protecting Conscience Rights of Pro-Life Pharmacists - Lynn v. Sekulow","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-09-03T15:32:42+00:00","dateModified":"2009-09-03T15:32:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#\/schema\/person\/d09bc4c4bba2ac87034ee529f100fbaf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/09\/protecting-conscience-rights-o.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Protecting Conscience Rights of Pro-Life Pharmacists"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/","name":"Lynn v. Sekulow","description":"A debate blog about church, state, faith and politics with Jay Sekulow and Barry W. Lynn","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#\/schema\/person\/d09bc4c4bba2ac87034ee529f100fbaf","name":"Jay Sekulow","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/574\/574bc7f1605fea9a78a1b3bac65ceb15x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/574\/574bc7f1605fea9a78a1b3bac65ceb15x96.jpg","caption":"Jay Sekulow"},"description":"Jay Alan Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a law firm and educational organization that focuses on constitutional law.  He is also Chief Counsel of the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ). Jay Sekulow has also served as a faculty member for the Office of Legal Education at the United States Department of Justice.  As a member of the faculty he instructed Assistant United States Attorneys and investigators in the First Amendment issues associated with prosecution of obscenity. An accomplished and respected judicial advocate, Sekulow has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous cases in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several landmark cases argued by Sekulow before the U.S. Supreme Court have become part of the legal landscape in the area of religious liberty litigation.  In the Mergens case, Sekulow cleared the way for public school students to form Bible clubs and religious organizations on their school campuses.  In the Lamb's Chapel case, Sekulow defended the free speech rights of religious groups, ensuring that they be treated equally with respect to the use of public facilities.  And, most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, Sekulow ensured that the constitutional rights of young people remain protected with a unanimous decision by the high court guaranteeing that minors can participate in political campaigns. A nationally recognized and respected defender of religious freedom, Sekulow has assembled one of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.  Founded in 1990, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses in constitutional law.  The ACLJ, under Sekulow's direction, is involved in public interest and public policy issues working to protect religious and constitutional liberties. In 2007, the Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has \"led the way\" in Christian legal advocacy.  In 2005, TIME Magazine named Sekulow one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America and called the ACLJ \"a powerful counterweight\" to the ACLU.  Business Week said the ACLJ is \"the leading advocacy group for religious freedom.\"  Sekulow's work on the issue of judicial nominees - including possible vacancies at the Supreme Court - has received extensive news coverage including a front page story in The Wall Street Journal.  In addition, The National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \"100 Most Influential Lawyers\" in the United States (1994, 1997).  He is also among a distinguished group of attorneys known as \"The Public Sector 45\" named by The American Lawyer (January\/February 1997).  The magazine said the designation represents \"45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.\" Sekulow brings insight and education to listeners daily with his national call-in radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!, which is broadcast throughout the country on nearly 850 radio stations.  Sekulow also hosts a weekly television program, ACLJ This Week, which tackles the tough issues of the day and is broadcast on a number of networks nationwide including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and FamilyNet.  Sekulow is also a popular guest on nationally televised news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.  He frequently contributes articles and commentary to national publications and is often quoted in the nation's leading newspapers including USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times. A graduate of Mercer University, Sekulow graduated cum laude receiving both a bachelor's degree and doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer University where he served on the Mercer Law Review as an editorial staff member.  Following graduation, Sekulow served as a tax trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service.  In that capacity, Sekulow prepared and brought to trial tax cases on behalf of the United States Department of Treasury in United States Tax Court. He also received a Ph.D. from Regent University, with a dissertation on American Legal History, and is the author of numerous publications and law articles. Sekulow serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/jsekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}