At the eleventh hour, one judge in Philadelphia blocked employers from opting out of providing birth control coverage to employees.

Nationwide Preliminary Injunction Barring Trump’s Birth Control Opt-Out

Beetlestone issued a nationwide injunction, which stops the laws from being enforced. According to Beetlestone, these rules are outside the scope of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, and must be stopped from going into effect. “The negative effects of even a short period of decreased access to no-cost contraceptive services are irreversible,” Beetlestone said. This ruling comes one day after a California judge issued a similar ruling, which was limited to only the 13 states and the District of Columbia filing the lawsuit, based on restrictions specifically placed on the judge by the local appeals court. 

No American Should Be Forced to Violate His or Her Own Conscience

Both sides of the lawsuit seemed to agree on something. The HHS spokesperson Caitlin Oakley said in a statement that “no American should be forced to violate his or her own conscience in order to abide by the laws and regulations governing our health care system,” and added that the new rules “uphold the freedoms afforded all Americans under our Constitution.” Plaintiffs likely agree with this statement, but believe that abiding by these new laws, people may very well be forced to violate their conscience, needing an abortion instead of birth control, and that all Americans should be able to get free birth control, and not just the ones working for employers that haven’t opted out of providing this benefit.

The Trump administration is expected to appeal this ruling, but so far has not issued such a statement.

Related Resources:

  • Is There a Religious Exemption for Employee Healthcare Coverage? (FindLaw Free Enterprise)
  • Update on the Legal Battle Over Obamacare (FindLaw Law and Daily Life)
  • Trump’s Health Care Executive Order: A Quick Overview (FindLaw Law and Daily Life)

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