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ICYMI: Trump’s DOJ Goes to Court to Let Employers Deny Birth Control Coverage
ICYMI: Trump’s DOJ Goes to Court to Let Employers Deny Birth Control Coverage
Trump admin asks appeals court to roll back Obamacare’s contraception coverage
Yesterday, Politico reported that Trump’s Department of Justice went to court seeking to revive a rule that would allow employers to deny birth control coverage. The rule is not in effect right now, but the DOJ is fighting to change that—and Trump’s administration is reportedly preparing to go even further, with an updated rule that could let employers deny coverage for reproductive health care more broadly under the guise of “religious and moral exemptions.”
Trump and other anti-abortion extremists have made it clear they will not stop short of trying to impose a total abortion ban, and they are coming for other types of reproductive care, including contraception and IVF access. This is Project 2025 in action: The blueprint made restoring these exemptions to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage benefit a priority. Trump’s administration first implemented this rule in 2018, and a Pennsylvania court struck it down last year. Now, the DOJ is fighting to force it back into effect.
The Justice Department on Tuesday asked the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow virtually any employer to opt out of Obamacare’s requirement that they offer their workers health insurance covering contraception if they raise a religious or moral objection.
It’s the latest chapter in a years-long battle over a policy that has massively expanded birth control access over the past decade, and comes as the administration chips away at other programs millions rely on for contraception — including Medicaid, Title X and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
Arguing on Tuesday before a three-judge panel whose members were appointed by Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and George H.W. Bush, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric McArthur claimed the federal government has “virtually unbridled discretion” to decide who can opt out of the contraception mandate, and predicted that only a small number of companies whose leaders sincerely oppose birth control would take advantage of the loophole.
Attorney Aimee D. Thomson, arguing on behalf of Pennsylvania, responded that the federal government has no proof that the policy would have minimal Impact. Because companies don’t have to notify the government that they are claiming a religious or moral exemption, she said, “there is no way to actually know how many women have been potentially impacted and deprived of the contraceptive care guaranteed to them by rule of law.” Thompson also said the policy should be struck down as arbitrary and capricious because Trump’s health department cherry-picked data and public feedback during the rulemaking process.
What’s next: Should the appeals court panel rule for Pennsylvania and maintain the district court’s block on the policy, the Trump administration could appeal to the full Third Circuit or leapfrog that step and ask the Supreme Court to intervene. If the court rules for the Trump administration, the opt-out policy would immediately go back into effect, though the states challenging it could pursue appeals.
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
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