ACLU: Meijer to change policies on filling prescriptions
PETOSKEY, Mich. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan says it has reached an agreement with Meijer on policy changes and training after a pharmacist at one of the retailer’s stores refused to fill a prescription to help a woman complete a miscarriage.
The ACLU said in a news release Thursday that the Midwestern retailer’s new policies include requiring a second pharmacist to immediately fill a prescription if another pharmacist has a religious objection. Customers also are to receive prescriptions without knowing about a pharmacist’s objection.
A pharmacist in the northern Michigan community of Petoskey, citing his religious beliefs, refused to fill Rachel Peterson’s prescription last July for misoprostol so she could accelerate a miscarriage and avoid infection.
Misoprostol is sometimes taken as part of a drug combination to induce abortion. Peterson later got the medication from another Meijer.
Meijer spokeswoman Christina Fecher said in an email that the retailer always is “focused on providing the best service to all” its “pharmacy patients, while also ensuring” pharmacists “work in a supportive environment.”
Judge clears path to trial in Eastpointe voting rights case
EASTPOINTE, Mich. (AP) — The federal government has won a key ruling in a lawsuit that accuses a Detroit suburb of violating the rights of black voters in city council elections.
Eastpointe had sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing in part that a black woman, Monique Owens, was elected to the council in 2017 after the lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department was filed.
But federal Judge Terrence Berg notes there was only one white candidate for two open seats in that election. The judge says the election of a black candidate was a “foregone conclusion.”
Berg’s decision Wednesday means the case will go to trial or be settled. The government says Eastpointe should elect council members by district, rather than citywide.
Blacks were 30 percent of Eastpointe’s population in the 2010 census.
Minimum wage, sick leave laws take effect
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — State laws changing Michigan’s minimum wage and what employers can offer workers in paid sick leave are set to go into effect.
On Friday, hourly pay rises from $9.25 to $9.45. Businesses with more than 50 workers also have to start offering one hour of paid medical leave for every 35 hours an employee works.
Both proposals were initiated by Michigan residents, but changed last year by the Republican-led Legislature. The state supreme court and Michigan Attorney General’s office are reviewing the changes.
The $9.25 minimum wage had been set to increase by an inflationary amount this April. But a ballot drive gathered signatures for an initiative to set it at $10 this year and ultimately $12 in 2022.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://www.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
