HB 2428 Summary

• Requires pharmacies to fill valid prescription orders, including emergency contraception, while allowing employees to decline based on sincerely held religious beliefs if the pharmacy can accommodate without undue hardship.

• Mandates that health professionals providing care to rape victims of reproductive age must inform patients about emergency contraception, verbally offer to provide or prescribe it, and dispense the drug at the patient's request, with exceptions for those with religious objections who immediately refer to another provider.

• Allows health professionals and pharmacists with religious objections to satisfy requirements through immediate referrals to other providers who will comply.

• Defines emergency contraception as a drug or device that prevents pregnancy after sexual intercourse, and rape as nonconsensual sexual intercourse involving penetration of the vulva.

• Requires the Department of Health Services to administer a program to reduce unintended pregnancy risks by improving awareness of emergency contraception through informational resources on its website and social media.