On July 26, 2006, the owners of local grocery store/pharmacy Ralph’s Thriftway filed a lawsuit against the state of Washington’s Board of Pharmacy and Human Rights Commission in federal court. The complaint, filed on behalf of Stormans, Inc. and two pharmacists who are not employees of Ralph’s, contends that newly adopted state administrative codes that require pharmacies to fill prescriptions without discrimination violate the “Plaintiffs’ unalienable right of conscience on matters of religious and moral conviction free of government coercion.”

After having been refused emergency contraception at Raph's, Sarah and Jen complete paperwork and file complaints with the Department of Health, (photo by Janet Blanding)

Photo taken at the picket on August 29.

Three pregnant boycotters, Rachel Smith, Debora Hughes and Keylee Marineau boycotting outside of Ralph's (photo by Janet Blanding)

Photo taken at the picket on August 29.

Protesters outside Ralph's (Photo by Rob Whitlock);

Photo taken at the picket on August 29.

Daisy, Marty and April doing paperwork at Ralph's (Photo by Diana Arens).

Photo taken at the picket on August 29.

After being refused Plan B at Ralph's Thriftway pharmacy, James Brenneman mails a complaint to the Department of Health. (photo by Phoebe Blanding)

by Janet Blanding

A recent Board of Pharmacy decision to adopt new rules requiring pharmacies to fill all prescriptions means a different kind of Judgment Day is looming for the owners of Ralph's Thriftway Pharmacy.

Soon, the Pharmacy Board will be deciding what disciplinary action is appropriate for Ralph's, based on its flagrant refusal to conform to state pharmacy regulations. Ralph's Thriftway (along with its sister store, Bayview Thriftway) has been the object of a community boycott since July 2006, due to its refusal to carry emergency contraception, supposedly "for moral reasons."

Clea Partridge and others picketing outside Ralph's Thriftway. (Photo by Jim Mayfield)

by Janet Blanding

Protecting the rights of medical consumers to have their prescriptions filled promptly is looking more promising at state level, but locally, Olympia women are still facing hurdles in having their legal prescriptions filled. The Washington State Board of Pharmacy, in an apparent response to intense negative public reaction, has decided to revise its proposed rule that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for any reason, including reasons of "conscience." The owners of Ralph's Thriftway and Bayview Thriftway, however, have proven less responsive to the . . .

Protesters demand birth control. (Photo by Krista Theiss)

Alysia Angel expresses her feelings about mixing medicine and religion.

(photo by Krista Theiss)

by Janet Blanding

The Suppression of Women's Rights. Ralph's and Bayview shoppers are paying to support a backwards attitude towards women's, and everyone's, reproductive rights. Not content to merely keep the condoms under lock and key, Ralph's Thriftway is refusing to stock emergency contraception. Initially represented to several community members as a business decision, Kevin Stormans, vice president of Stormans Incorporated, changed his story for media interviews with The Olympian and Seattle television stations by calling this policy a "moral" decision. He characterizes it as an issue . . .