A federal judge overreached when he sided with religious-freedom arguments to block Washington state’s rules mandating the sale of “morning-after” birth control, appeals judges said Wednesday.

The unanimous ruling, from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sends the politically thorny case back to U.S. District Court for further review.

The case revolves around the drug Plan B, a contraceptive that can greatly reduce the chances of pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

Some pharmacists and drugstore owners, however, say they can’t sell the pills in good conscience because they consider Plan B’s effect on potential pregnancies too similar to abortion.

Kevin Stormans, an owner of Ralph’s Thriftway, is a party to the federal lawsuit challenging the Pharmacy Board rule. He said lawyers are reviewing the court decision but he does not expect it to affect his immediate operations.

“We’ve not had enough time to evaluate this decision. The attorneys need to evaluate and see ... how it changes things,’’ Stormans said. He understood that the state would not enforce its dispensation rule pending a trial on his legal challenge of it.

Ralph’s pharmacy continues to refuse to stock Plan B, the morning-after pill, on moral grounds, Stormans added.

But Donn Moyer, spokesman for the state Department of Health, said the agency believes the ruling means the state can enforce the Pharmacy Board rule that required the dispensation of legal medications, including Plan B, for any pharmacy.

“We believe patients should have access to all legal medications and the court agreed with us,’’ Moyer added. “We believe it does allow us to begin enforcing it on all pharmacies. ... What the practical effect of that will be is yet to be determined.’’

Moyer said the appellate court sent the case back to U.S. District Court in Seattle for review, and that Ralph’s and the other plaintiffs could still ask for an injunction that applied only to their actions.

The ruling initially caught Janet Blanding, an Olympia activist who organized boycotts of Ralph’s Thriftway over the Plan B issue, by surprise. But she said after reading the 54-page ruling she is “encouraged” and believes access to Plan B will be improved around the state.

In 2007, regulators on the state Pharmacy Board ruled that pharmacies could not refuse to sell a lawful product because of moral or religious beliefs.

Developing the regulations became a pitched political battle, with Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire at one point publicly warning she might replace board members who didn’t follow her wishes on the issue. Her administration worked out the compromise rule that eventually was adopted.

Individual pharmacists were given a limited way around selling Plan B: passing the sale to another employee in the same store, provided the patient’s order was filled without delay.

Two druggists, with Stormans, sued the state shortly before the new rules took effect, arguing their constitutional rights were being violated.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton of Tacoma suspended the rules statewide while the lawsuit was being considered.

The Olympian’s Brad Shannon contributed to this report