00                             SENATE BILL NO. 197                                                                         
01 "An Act allowing pharmacists the right to refuse to refer, recommend, or dispense                                       
02 emergency contraceptives; providing immunity to a pharmacy for civil liability for a                                    
03 pharmacist's refusal to refer, recommend, or dispense emergency contraceptives; and                                     
04 prohibiting discrimination in employment against a pharmacist who refuses to refer,                                     
05 recommend, or dispense emergency contraceptives."                                                                       
06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
07    * Section 1. AS 08.80 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
08            Sec. 08.80.311. Pharmacist's right to refuse to refer, recommend, or                                       
09       dispense an emergency contraceptive. (a) A pharmacist may refuse to refer,                                      
10       recommend, or dispense an emergency contraceptive to which the pharmacist has a                                   
11       personal moral or religious objection.                                                                            
12            (b)  A pharmacist is not liable in a civil action for the pharmacist's refusal to                            
13       refer, recommend, or dispense an emergency contraceptive under (a) of this section.                               
01            (c)  In this section, "emergency contraceptive" means a contraceptive measure                                
02       that, if taken after sexual intercourse, may prevent pregnancy.                                                   
03    * Sec. 2. AS 08.80.470 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                              
04            (b)  Nothing in this chapter, in the regulations adopted under this chapter, or in                           
05       AS 17.20 or AS 17.30 may be construed to create a duty or impose on a pharmacist an                               
06       obligation to refer, recommend, or dispense an emergency contraceptive to which the                               
07       pharmacist has a personal moral or religious objection and the pharmacist has refused                             
08       to refer, recommend, or dispense under AS 08.80.311(a).                                                         
09    * Sec. 3. AS 08.80 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                     
10            Sec. 08.80.472. Civil liability of a pharmacy for a pharmacist's refusal to                              
11       refer, recommend, or dispense an emergency contraceptive. A pharmacy is not                                     
12       liable in a civil action for the refusal of a pharmacist employed by the pharmacy to                              
13       refer, recommend, or dispense under AS 08.80.311(a).                                                              
14    * Sec. 4. AS 18.80.220(a) is amended to read:                                                                      
15            (a)  Except as provided in (c) of this section, it is unlawful for                                           
16                 (1)  an employer to refuse employment to a person, or to bar a person                                   
17       from employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in a term,                                
18       condition, or privilege of employment because of the person's race, religion, color, or                           
19       national origin, or because of the person's age, physical or mental disability, sex,                              
20       marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy, or parenthood when the                                      
21       reasonable demands of the position do not require distinction on the basis of age,                                
22       physical or mental disability, sex, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy,                         
23       or parenthood;                                                                                                    
24                 (2)  a labor organization, because of a person's sex, marital status,                                   
25       changes in marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, age, race, religion, physical or                                
26       mental disability, color, or national origin, to exclude or to expel a person from its                            
27       membership, or to discriminate in any way against one of its members or an employer                               
28       or an employee;                                                                                                   
29                 (3)  an employer or employment agency to print or circulate or cause to                                 
30       be printed or circulated a statement, advertisement, or publication, or to use a form of                          
31       application for employment or to make an inquiry in connection with prospective                                   
01       employment, that expresses, directly or indirectly, a limitation, specification, or                               
02       discrimination as to sex, physical or mental disability, marital status, changes in                               
03       marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, age, race, creed, color, or national origin, or an                         
04       intent to make the limitation, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification;                          
05                 (4)  an employer, labor organization, or employment agency to                                           
06       discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against a person because the person has                               
07       opposed any practices forbidden under AS 18.80.200 - 18.80.280 or because the                                     
08       person has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in a proceeding under this chapter;                          
09                 (5)  an employer to discriminate in the payment of wages as between                                     
10       the sexes, or to employ a female in an occupation in this state at a salary or wage rate                          
11       less than that paid to a male employee for work of comparable character or work in the                            
12       same operation, business, or type of work in the same locality; [OR]                                              
13                 (6)  a person to print, publish, broadcast, or otherwise circulate a                                    
14       statement, inquiry, or advertisement in connection with prospective employment that                               
15       expresses directly a limitation, specification, or discrimination as to sex, physical or                          
16       mental disability, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, age,                         
17       race, religion, color, or national origin, unless based upon a bona fide occupational                             
18       qualification; or                                                                                             
19                 (7) an employer to refuse employment to a pharmacist, or to bar a                                   
20       pharmacist from employment, or to discriminate against a pharmacist in                                        
21       compensation or in a term, condition, or privilege of employment because of the                               
22       pharmacist's refusal under AS 08.80.311(a) to refer, recommend, or dispense an                                
23       emergency contraceptive to which the pharmacist has a personal moral or                                       
24       religious objection.