Pharmacist seeks state Supreme Court review
Pharmacist Neil Noesen is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that upheld a disciplinary action against him for refusing to fill or transfer a prescription for oral contraceptives.
Lawyers for the Chicago-based Thomas More Society filed a petition for review on behalf of Noesen on Wednesday.
Noesen, a devout Catholic, said he refused to fill the prescription at a Kmart in Menominee as a matter of religious conscience.
He was disciplined by the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board with a reprimand and restrictions on his license, on the basis that he failed to perform his professional responsibility to get the prescription to someone else if he could not fill it.
The Barron County Circuit Court and the 3rd District Court of Appeals upheld the order.
"Mr. Noesen is being punished for refusing to compromise his beliefs," said Paul Linton, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, an anti-abortion public interest law firm.
"The Pharmacy Examining Board's action violates his rights of conscience, clearly protected by the Wisconsin Constitution. We hope the Wisconsin Supreme Court will restore Mr. Noesen's right to express his deeply held beliefs. Being tolerant of what others believe is the definition of a free society."
Fiel photo/David Sandell/The Capital Times
Pharmacist Neil Noesen (left) arrives at a hearing with his attorneys in this 2004 file photo.
