What Recent Federal Court Rulings on Contraception Mean for U.S. Women’s Health
Federal courts in California and Pennsylvania have moved to temporarily block the Trump administration’s attempt to roll back the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employer-based health insurance cover contraception as a free preventive service. New rules announced in November make it possible for virtually any nongovernmental employer to request an exemption from providing contraception coverage based on moral or religious objections.
In a new To the Point post, the Commonwealth Fund’s Shanoor Seervai and Roosa Tikkanen explain the potential consequences of the new rules for American women. The ability to make choices about their reproductive health is one way for women to have control over their economic futures. Women in the U.S. already struggle to afford the care they need, especially compared to women in other high-income countries, and have worse health outcomes as well. A key difference in these other countries is universal access to free or affordable contraceptives.
“The administration’s rules would further worsen access, and likely outcomes, for U.S. women,” the authors say.
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