The Trump administration is at it again. That target this time? Birth control. The New York Times reports that the trump administration has plans to put new rules in place that would void the federal requirement for employer's to cover birth control in the health insurance plans they provide for employees. No big deal, right? Wrong.
A study by the Obama administration determined that more than 55 million women get free birth control under this federal mandate, the NYT says.
BREAKING: The Trump administration will let more employers opt out of providing no-cost birth control for religious, moral reasons.
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 6, 2017
What about the legality of all of this? Since Trump and co. failed to replace Obamacare, people thought birth control was pretty much safe, but the Trump admin argues that Obamacare does not "explicitly require coverage of contraceptives," which it doesn't in the text of the bill actually signed into law. In 2013, through the Federal Register, the Obama admin implemented the rule requiring employers to provide birth control, saying it was essential for protecting women's health.
This is kind of confusing, but basically the 2012 Affordable Care Act had a section (specifically "Sec. 3509. Improving Women's Health") which created committees for, you guessed it, improving women's health. Leaving it up to the committees to determine how this would be accomplished, they thought free birth control was a good idea. The tricky part is now Trump can go through the same process to finalize his new rules.
“It is upsetting to me that in 2012 the use of birth control has become controversial.” http://t.co/YEgtVeaZ
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 17, 2012
The NYT reports that one of the rules offers an exemption to employers and insurers that have issues providing free birth control “based on its sincerely held religious beliefs," which basically expands an exemption that already existed within Obama's mandate and the Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. decision by the supreme court.
However there's another rule that offers exemption for companies with “moral convictions” against covering birth control. This huge because that leaves room for companies that don't have any religious affiliation to get out of covering contraception.
Just like with Obama's rules, Trump's policies will probably lead to a host of new court cases, this time from more liberal groups and people. Which means even after the Trump admin puts the rules in place, the issue will be far from over. Yippee.
