The Trump administration on Friday announced a
major rollback of the ObamaCare contraceptive mandate, granting what
officials called “full protection” to a wide range of companies and
organizations that claim a “religious or moral objection” to providing
the coverage.
The decision swiftly ignited a new
battle over the Affordable Care Act. Republican lawmakers and
faith-based groups hailed the decision as a win for religious liberty,
while Democratic officials and groups like Planned Parenthood accused
the administration of attacking women’s rights.
By early afternoon, the American Civil Liberties Union announced it was filing a lawsuit challenging the change.
The original mandate, which already has been the
subject of multiple legal challenges, required employers that provide
health insurance to cover contraceptives. Under the existing policy,
churches and houses of worship were exempt, while religious-affiliated
groups that object had to allow a third-party administrator or insurer
to handle birth control coverage. The 2014 Hobby Lobby decision expanded
exemptions to for-profit “closely held” corporations.
But under the new policy unveiled Friday, the Trump
administration is expanding the protections to any nonprofit group,
non-publicly traded company, or higher education institution with
religious or moral objections -- and making the third-party provision
optional for groups with “sincerely held” religious beliefs.
Publicly traded companies also could claim an exemption
if they state religious objections, though a senior Health and Human
Services official said they would still have to let a third party cover
contraception.
“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,” said HHS press secretary Caitlin Oakley. “Today’s
actions affirm the Trump administration’s commitment to upholding the
freedoms afforded all Americans under our Constitution.”
Little Sisters of the Poor outside the Supreme Court on March 23,
2016 after Zubik v. Burwell, an appeal brought by Christian groups
demanding full exemption from the contraceptive mandate, was heard.
(Reuters)
The decision was cheered by representatives for the
Little Sisters of the Poor, the religious group that took their mandate
challenge to the Supreme Court -- which in turn punted the case to the
lower courts last year.
“HHS has issued a balanced rule that respects all sides
–it keeps the contraceptive mandate in place for most employers and now
provides a religious exemption,” Mark Rienzi, senior counsel at Becket
Law and lead attorney for Little Sisters of the Poor, said Friday. “The
Little Sisters still need to get final relief in court, which should be
easy now that the government admits it broke the law.”
“This is a landmark day for religious liberty," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a statement.
Officials stressed that the impact may be limited, even
though the rule changes are significant, as some large corporations
were grandfathered into the policy and spared from the mandate anyway.
“Of the 165 million women in the U.S., HHS estimates
these rules affect at most 120,000, leaving more than 99.9 percent of
women without any impact,” an HHS official told Fox News.
An official noted the administration anticipates the
groups taking advantage of the change would be those involved in legal
battles pertaining to the mandate.
“There are about 200 entities that have participated in
lawsuits because of the contraceptive rule, and those entities will
benefit from this rule,” a senior HHS official said.
A senior HHS official said there have been more than 50
lawsuits filed against the mandate, and the new rule would provide
“relief.”
But the ACLU contended the policy would allow “nearly all employers” to deny contraception coverage if they state an objection.
"This is an unacceptable attack on basic health care
that the vast majority of women rely on," Planned Parenthood President
Cecile Richards said Friday. "With this rule in place, any employer
could decide that their employees no longer have health insurance
coverage for birth control."
And Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., accused the administration of "stooping to a new low."
"There is no 'exemption from having reproductive
organs," Wyden said Friday. "This administration needs to end its
obsession with attacking women's rights to receive the health care they
deserve."
The types of contraceptives covered by the mandate are
FDA-approved methods: diaphragms, hormonal methods like birth control
pills and vaginal rings, implanted devices like intrauterine devices or
IUDs, emergency contraception like Plan B, sterilization procedures, and
patient education and counseling. The mandate is not required to cover
drugs that serve to induce abortions.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, since the
Obama-era rule, the share of women paying for their own birth control
pills out of pocket plunged to under 4 percent, compared with 21 percent
before the rule.
HHS also rolled out a guidance bulletin on Friday,
underscoring the requirements of a section of ObamaCare that “segregates
funds” for abortion services. The bulletin reminds employers that
abortion coverage has to be kept separate from other premium payments.
In addition to HHS’ announcement, Attorney General Jeff
Sessions announced “20 high-level principles” on religious liberty to
“guide all agencies in complying with relevant Federal law.”
“The constitutional protection of religious beliefs and
the right to exercise those beliefs have served this country well, have
made us one of the most tolerant countries in the world, and have also
helped make us the free-ist and most generous,” Sessions said in a
statement Friday. “President Trump promised that this administration
would ‘lead by example on religious liberty,’ and he is delivering on
that promise.”