Donald Trump’s Order On Birth Control Legally Challenged

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Donald Trump's Order On Birth Control Legally Challenged
Donald Trump's Order On Birth Control Legally Challenged

Despite promises made by previous presidents to provide free access to birth control services in the United States, the issue is yet to be treated as a matter of public health and remains a highly contentious topic.

The Trump administration has recently introduced measures to undo the progress made under President Obama on this issue. In its most recent step, a mandate that required  most employers to offer free contraceptives to women under their health insurance coverage has been repealed.

Mandate Legally Challenged

This Obama-era mandate has been at the center of controversy and litigation due to the decision of the Obama administration to include religiously-affiliated universities, charities and other such organisations.

The move resulted in nearly 100 organizations filing a lawsuit challenging the rule, of which many are still pending.

President Trump could have chosen to exempt such religious groups  but instead, the Health and Human Services Department has now allowed employers and organizations to deny birth control coverage not only due to religious beliefs, but also due to their “moral objections.”

Order Stayed Due By Federal Courts

In the past weeks, federal judges in the states of Pennsylvania and California have issued temporary orders to block the new rule.

A moral exemption could cover anything. U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone noted in her ruling that a  employer could hold “a sincerely held moral conviction that women do not have a place in the workplace,”  which would flout laws.

She expressed concern that the new rule could greatly “undermine the contraceptive mandate” and “intrudes” into the lives of women.

Under the new laws, employers are not required to file their objection with the federal government, instead they can just end coverage. According to Federal officials nearly 31,700 women could be affected as a result of this rule. The judge has said that the number of women being affected may be “significantly higher.”

A study by the Institute of Medicine has found that free contraception plays an important part in terms of preventive care for women. Additionally, many women use birth control to tackle other medical issues.

Ready access to birth control helps prevent unplanned pregnancies which by extension prevents abortions – a goal desired by both sides of the debate. However with this order, Trump has put the matter back into courts.

 

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