Attorney General Shapiro Joins Ninth Circuit Amicus Brief Opposing Trump Administration’s Rollback of Contraceptive Coverage Mandate

May 30, 2018 | Topic: Rights

Pennsylvania Previously Won Nationwide Injunction to Stop Order Eliminating Women’s Guaranteed Access to Contraceptive Care

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro, together with a coalition of 15 other Attorneys General, today filed an amicus brief opposing the Trump Administration’s decision to roll back a requirement under the Affordable Care Act for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans.

In December 2017, Pennsylvania secured a nationwide injunction from Federal Judge Wendy Beetlestone in the Third Circuit. That ruling stopped President Trump’s order eliminating guaranteed access to contraceptive care under the Affordable Care Act.

That same month, the states of California, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia also won an injunction stopping the order. That case is now on appeal in the Ninth Circuit, and today’s amicus brief is filed in support of upholding the injunction.

“Women need contraception for their health because contraception is medicine, pure and simple,” Attorney General Shapiro said. “President Trump broke the law to undermine women’s health, and I’m standing up to protect and ensure access to contraceptive care.”

The amicus brief, filed Tuesday afternoon with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, supports California, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia’s lawsuit seeking to stop the federal government from implementing new regulations that authorize virtually any employer with a religious or moral objection to contraception to block their employees, and their employees’ dependents, from receiving health insurance coverage for contraceptive care and services.

Since the ACA was enacted in 2010, most employers who provide health insurance coverage to their employees have been required to include coverage for contraception, at no cost to the employee. As a result of the ACA, more than 55 million women in the United States, including 2.5 million Pennsylvania women and families, have access to birth control with no out-of-pocket costs.

In addition to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the amicus brief was joined by the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

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