Patients' rights to prescription meds enforced by emergency order

Good news from Illinois (link via Atrios):

Gov. Rod Blagojevich filed an emergency rule Friday requiring pharmacies that sell contraceptives to fill prescriptions for birth control quickly, following recent incidents in which a Chicago pharmacist refused to fill orders for contraceptives because of moral opposition.

"Our regulation says that if a woman goes to a pharmacy with a prescription for birth control, the pharmacy or the pharmacist is not allowed to discriminate or to choose who he sells it to or who he doesn't sell it to," Blagojevich said. "The pharmacy will be expected to accept that prescription and fill it ... No delays. No hassles. No lectures."

And the article is much more sensibly written than that hideous Washington Post piece I referred to earlier. (Which has already inspired a spoof piece).

Plus, Ann Telnaes has a great cartoon on the subject over at Women's eNews.