Leslie Griffin on "Conscience and Emergency Contraception"

Leslie Griffin (University of Houston) has posted Conscience and Emergency Contraception on SSRN.  Here is the abstract:

This article examines the influence of religious beliefs on the law of emergency contraception. That influence is evident in two areas of the law. The first is conscience clause legislation, which allows health care providers to refuse participation in abortion, sterilization, contraception, or other medical procedures for religious and moral reasons. The second is the substantive content of health law and policy. The article first describes recent claims of conscience by pharmacists who refuse to dispense emergency contraception. It then reviews state and federal attempts to regulate the availability of emergency contraception. It also discusses the implications of the debates about contraception for the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment, concluding that legislative over-reliance on conscience clauses may violate the Establishment Clause.

Griffin's article focuses on an example of the tension addressed in Cass Sunstein's article, On the Tension Between Sex Equality and Religious Freedom (see this post). The Access to Birth Control Act, introduced in Congress last month by Representative Carolyn Maloney and Senator Frank Lautenberg would make it illegal for pharmacies to deny women access to contraception.  Groups endorsing the "ABC" bill include NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood, and the National Women’s Law Center.