YAKIMA -- Access to birth control and other health care should be equal for all patients, a lawyer for Planned Parenthood told a group of the organization's supporters in Yakima.

But a lawsuit pending in federal court in Tacoma challenges state rules requiring pharmacies to distribute the so-called Plan B emergency contraceptive, also known as the morning-after pill, attorney Roberta Riley said Thursday night.

Riley, who played a key role in legal cases that secured insurance coverage for contraception methods earlier this decade, said the lawsuit sets up a dilemma over constitutional rights.

"The diversity of religious rights in this country means no one's right is more important than somebody else's," she told a group of about 50 people who gathered at Masset Winery in downtown Yakima. Her appearance was part of an annual fundraiser by Planned Parenthood's political lobbying arm.

Riley said the pharmacy case has nationwide importance.

The morning-after pill is designed to stop the ovulation and fertilization process and does not terminate a pregnancy already in progress.

The RU-486 method, which aborts the pregnancy, is different.

The state Board of Pharmacy approved rules that would require pharmacists to either dispense the morning-after pill or refer women requesting it to another pharmacist at the same location. The rules followed two years of debate, including a Yakima hearing.

As the rules were scheduled to go into effect last summer, an Olympia grocery company with a pharmacy and two independent pharmacists filed the lawsuit. The lawsuit contends that the state rules require some pharmacists to violate their moral beliefs, something the state should not be able to force on them.

But supporters of the rules say that women have just as much of a right to equal access to birth control.

And Riley said the issue goes beyond emergency contraception to include general health care such as mental health drugs and HIV-AIDS treatment.

The state rules are designed to apply to all orders filled by pharmacies, but the morning-after pill has been the most controversial element. Right now, pharmacists who don't distribute the pill must refer requesters to a nearby source.

A list of examples of pharmacists refusing to fill requests includes a Yakima case.

A woman who had an abortion had been prescribed prenatal vitamins for anemia, but the pharmacist would not provide them after seeing that the request came from a particular clinic, according to the description provided by Riley.

Another case from the Tri-Cities involved a diabetic man who was refused needles, apparently over concerns that he was using them to inject illegal drugs.

Riley said the legal case could drag on for years, possibly ending before the U.S. Supreme Court, where conservative judges hold a 5-4 majority.

She said a legislative fix may be the best answer.

* Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

* Mark Morey can be reached at 577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.