Court Opinion

ID: 9553322
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:27:56.42814+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:30:46.919885
License: Public Domain

Order; Dissent by Judge TASHIMA
ORDER
The Plaintiffs-Appellees filed suit in district court to enjoin the enforcement of Washington Administrative Code 246-863-095(4)(d) and 246-869-010(4)(d). Those regulations, as enforced by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy, prohibit pharmacies and pharmacists from refusing to dispense a contraceptive known as “Plan B” or the “morning after” pill. The district court granted the preliminary injunction on the grounds that enforcement of the regulations would interfere with the rights of the Plaintiffs-Appellees under the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution. DefendanL-Intervenors seek a stay pending appeal of the district court’s preliminary injunction in this case.
There are four factors we consider when presented with a motion for a stay pending appeal:
(1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceedings; and (4) where the public interest lies.
Golden Gate Restaurant v. City and County of San Francisco, 512 F.3d 1112, 1115 (9th Cir.2008) (quoting Hilton v. Braunskill, 481 U.S. 770, 776, 107 S.Ct. 2113, 95 L.Ed.2d 724 (1987)). We have recently explained that to satisfy steps (1) and (2), we will accept proof either that the applicant has shown “a strong likelihood of success on the merits [and] ... a possibility of irreparable injury to the [applicant],” or “that serious legal questions are raised and that the balance of hardships tips sharply in its favor.” Id. at 1115-16 (emphasis added; citations omitted). We have described these alternative formulations as “ ‘two interrelated legal tests’ that ‘represent the outer reaches of a single continuum.’ ” Id. at 1115 (quoting Lopez v. Heckler, 713 F.2d 1432, 1435 (9th Cir.1983)).
The motion to stay the district court’s injunction is denied. Even assuming the district court erred in concluding that the Washington regulations violate the Free Exercise Clause, there is insufficient evidence that AppellanL-Intervenors will face irreparable harm if the injunction remains in effect pending appeal.
The district court found that “there has been no evidence presented to the Court that access [to Plan B] is a problem. It is available at all but a few licensed pharmacies in Washington state and can be accessed through physicians offices, certain government health centers, hospital emergency rooms, Planned Parenthood and the internet.” The district court also relied on a survey conducted by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy. Of the 135 pharmacies surveyed, “93 typically stocked emergency contraceptives while 28 did not. Of those who did not, 18 cited low demand and three relied on an ‘easy alternative source.’ Only two pharmacies said they did not stock emergency contraceptives because of religious or personal reasons.” The district court concluded:
The Court has been presented no evidence establishing that anyone in the State of Washington, including intervenors, has ever failed to obtain Plan B within the 72-hour window of effectiveness because one or more pharmacists-pharmacies refused to fill a lawful pre*409scription for Plan B or refused to stock and/or dispense Plan B as an over-the-counter drug.
In their application for a stay pending appeal, the DefendanNIntervenors do not controvert these findings. Instead, they cite other evidence — -which was before the district court and discussed in its order— of two women who sought Plan B and were refused by a pharmacist, a woman who have heard that Plan B is not available at pharmacies and obtained Plan B from Planned Parenthood, and a woman who has not used Plan B but participated in a Planned Parenthood testing program and made inquiries at five pharmacies. The most serious cases are that of the two women who were refused Plan B by pharmacists; neither woman was unable to obtain Plan B. In the one case, the pharmacist directed the woman to another pharmacy in the area; in the second case, another pharmacist on duty at the store filled the prescription. There is no evidence that any woman who sought Plan B was unable to obtain it. This anecdotal evidence falls short of even the “possibility of irreparable harm” in the absence of a stay pending appeal.
Accordingly, upon the record before the court, a stay of the district court’s injunction is not warranted.
Appellant-Intervenors’ alternative motion to expedite oral argument of these cases is granted. These cases have been calendared for oral argument on June 3, 2008 in Seattle, Washington. Appellees’ motion to continue oral argument will be addressed by separate order.