The case revolved around two pharmacists who sued over a 2005 mandate that was intended to force pharmacists to provide the Plan B abortifacient pill to patients. They were represented by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

Mark Rienzi, senior counsel with The Becket Fund responded to the victory:

"The result is that there is now clear law in Illinois that the government can’t force pharmacists or pharmacies with religious objections to dispense emergency contraceptives," said Rienzi.

"That was the entire point of the April 2005 order, and we now have clarity that the government can’t do that. The government still retains its ability to regulate the profession, of course. But the decision means they can’t force religious objectors to participate."

Response: This is a great victory for individual religious conscience and freedom. It comes at a critical time when the Obama administration is in the midst of curtailing individual, organizational, and corporate freedom of conscience and religion through the implementation of their HHS contraceptives mandate.

Also, President Bush had given federal protection through executive order to allied health workers when it comes to religious conscience but one of the first things that Barack Obama did when he became president was to rescind that order.

With the policies and attitudes of the Obama administration, religious freedom and conscience will be under assault like never before. From the President’s perspective, a progressive agenda should trump and curtail ‘negative rights’ like religious freedom if it is deemed to be for the betterment of society as a whole. Numerous lawsuits are ahead for the republic in the next 4 years. This case gives one hope that there might yet be judges in America that will stand up for religious conscience and freedom after all. *Top