1. Americans Overwhelmingly Support Including Birth Control as Preventive Health Care
Ninety-nine percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 who have had sex with men have at some point used birth control. So, it’s no surprise that this is one of the most popular benefits of the health care reform law. Here’s what the public thinks:
2. Access to Birth Control Improves Women’s Health Outcomes
The respected, nonpartisan Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended birth control be covered as a women’s preventive service for a reason: it is fundamental to improving women’s health and the health of their families — medical research has demonstrated this fact for decades. For example, improved access to birth control is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality.
3. Many Women Struggle with the Cost of Birth Control
A 2010 survey found that more than a third of female voters have struggled to afford prescription birth control at some point in their lives, and as a result, had used birth control inconsistently . This isn’t surprising: co-pays for birth control pills typically range between $15 and $50 per month. Other methods, such as IUDs, often cost several hundred dollars, even with health insurance.
4. Any Expansion of the Refusal Provision Could Limit Millions of Americans and Their Families from Access to Birth Control
Nearly 800,000 people who receive benefits through Catholic hospitals would lose them. Approximately two million students and workers attend universities that have a religious affiliation. That’s millions of American workers who would lose a benefit that finally makes an essential health care service affordable.
5. Courts Have Already Ruled that Religious Organizations Operating Hospitals, Universities, or Charities That Are Open to the Public Are Not Entitled to Expansive Exemptions
The state supreme courts in California and New York both found that contraceptive-equity laws with narrower exclusions for employers do not substantially burden religious beliefs or practices. “[W]hen a religious organization chooses to hire nonbelievers it must, at least to some degree, be prepared to accept neutral regulations imposed to protect those employees’ legitimate interests in doing what their own beliefs permit.” (case citation: Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany v. Serio, 859 N.E.2d 459, 468 (N.Y. 2006).
6. Failing to Provide Women with Coverage for Contraception in Health Plans That Otherwise Cover Prescription Drugs and Devices Is Sex Discrimination
Prescription contraceptives are used exclusively by women. Because of this, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has argued that the exclusion of insurance coverage for prescription contraceptive drugs and devices in an employer’s health plan that covers prescription drugs violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.
7. Both President Obama and Vice President Biden Opposed the Expansion of “Conscience” Clauses in 2008 as Senators
In the final month of the Bush administration, the Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt issued a draft regulation that would have allowed doctors, nurses, pharmacists and a broad spectrum of health care workers the right to refuse to perform or discuss abortion or any other activity they find morally objectionable. As senators, both President Obama and Vice President Biden signed on to a letter (link) sent to Secretary Leavitt urging him to halt movement on the rule. Obama said, “[This proposed regulation] raises troubling issues about access to basic health care for women, particularly access to contraceptives. We need to restore integrity to our public health programs, not create backdoor efforts to weaken them.”