The Obama Administration Needs to Hear from YOU on Birth Control
By | Sept. 19, 2016, 3:18 p.m.
Category: Birth Control, Health Care Equity
First, faith-based nonprofits complained about having to provide birth control to their employees. So the Obama administration gave them a workaround — all they had to do was fill out a one-page form. And then no-copay birth control would be provided to their employees separately through the insurance company.
Good compromise, right? Apparently not. They argued that a one-page form is too heavy a burden — all the way to the Supreme Court, which kicked the case back to lower courts and asked whether the Obama administration could offer another alternative (to a single form!).
We can’t let new alternatives turn out to be excuses for faith-based organizations to block their employees from birth control coverage. Tell the Obama administration: Stand your ground. Ensure no-copay birth control coverage for all – regardless of their employer.
We’re not naïve enough to think the fight ends here. It’s been nearly five years since the birth control benefit was announced. It may have started with Hobby Lobby, but we are STILL fighting to protect women’s access to birth control from their bosses. Opponents of reproductive rights have shown they don’t just care about employers being exempted from providing birth control coverage — they don’t want people to have access to birth control, period. And the challenges to no-copay birth control are just one part of a larger agenda.
We know better. We know birth control is basic health care. We know 99% of sexually active American women have used it at some point in their life. And we know it should be treated just like any other health care service. Tell the administration to stand strong against efforts to take away no-copay birth control.
Allowing employers and universities to block access to birth control through their insurance plans when they’re providing insurance for other services is allowing discrimination, pure and simple. The Obama administration didn’t stand for it years ago, and they shouldn’t allow it now.
Tags: zubik v. burwell, Obamacare, Hobby Lobby
