This week at Gender Justice: Emergency contraception verdict and more

This week brought wins and losses for reproductive rights and gender equity.

August 7, 2022

Dear Friend,

This week brought wins and losses for reproductive rights and gender equity. We celebrated with our friends in Kansas after Kansans resoundingly defeated an amendment to their state constitution that would have allowed extremist legislators to ban or severely restrict abortion. And we grieved with Indiana as their state legislature became the first in our nation to ban abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Verdict in Emergency Contraception Case

Our legal team spent the week in trial fighting for our client who was denied service by a local pharmacist when she sought to fill a prescription for emergency contraception. Gender Justice argued that denying Ms. Anderson service based on her reproductive health care needs is illegal sex discrimination and violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA).

Friday, an Aitkin County jury found the pharmacy did not discriminate when they refused to fill her prescription. Gender Justice will appeal the decision to the Minnesota Court of Appeals to ensure Minnesota patients can safely access the health care they need.

Gender Justice in the News

This week, Gender Justice Legal Director Jess Braverman spoke with national and local press about the emergency contraception case.

Star Tribune: “To be clear, the law in Minnesota prohibits sex discrimination, and that includes refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception,” Braverman said. “We will appeal this decision and won’t stop fighting until Minnesotans can get the health care they need without the interference of providers putting their own personal beliefs ahead of their legal and ethical obligations to their patients.”

Washington Post: “No Minnesotan seeking medical care should be denied due to the personal beliefs of their health-care providers,” said Jess Braverman, legal director of Gender Justice, which filed the lawsuit on Anderson’s behalf.

Minnesota Public Radio: “The testimony was so clear that she received lesser services than other customers because what she was going there for was emergency contraception. And so we believe that, by law, that’s discrimination in Minnesota,” said Jess Braverman, legal director for Gender Justice.

Thank you for reading!
–The Gender Justice Team