[1] In 2000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that companies that provided insurance for prescription drugs to their employees but excluded birth control were violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
[7] In 2017, the Trump administration issued a ruling letting insurers and employers refuse to provide birth control if doing so would violate their religious beliefs or moral convictions.
[10] Making contraceptives available without a copay increases use of highly effective methods, reduces unintended pregnancies, and may be instrumental in achieving the Healthy People 2020 goal.
[citation needed] After the EEOC opinion was approved in 2000, reproductive rights groups and employees who wanted birth control access sued employers that refused to comply.
Reproductive rights groups and others used that decision as leverage to force other companies to settle lawsuits and agree to change their insurance plans to include birth control.
[1] In 2000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that companies that provided insurance for prescription drugs to their employees but excluded birth control were violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The exemption initially applied to church organizations themselves, but not to affiliated nonprofit corporations, like hospitals, that do not rely primarily on members of the faith as employees.
[22] All forms of male birth control are exempt from mandatory coverage under the ACA and the "ObamaCare Facts" page explicitly states that "Plans aren't required to cover services related to a man's reproductive capacity, like vasectomies.
"[23] In February 2012, a major political controversy erupted with candidates for the Republican nomination for President viewing the regulations as a "direct attack on religious liberty".
[28] In response to the criticism, the Obama administration proposed changes under which birth control medication would be provided by the insurers without direct involvement by the religious organization.
Although initially more supportive, Sister Carol Keehan, CEO of the CHA, registered opposition in a five-page letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
[31] The vice president of Catholic identity and mission at Mount St. Mary's University, Stuart Swetland, said, "It shows [Obama] and the administration are listening to our concerns", but reserved the right to "examine the details".
[32][33] In June 2013, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a lawsuit against the mandate by arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby to proceed.
[39] As of January 2014, at least 28 states in the US have contraceptive mandates; however, 20 of them allow some exceptions; four of those attempt to bridge the gap by letting employees buy coverage at the group rate.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, one of the majority justices, wrote in a concurring opinion that the government "makes the case that the mandate serves the Government's compelling interest in providing insurance coverage that is necessary to protect the health of female employees", but that the RFRA's least-restrictive way requirement was not met because "there is an existing, recognized, workable, and already-implemented framework to provide coverage", the non-profit accommodation.
By October 2017, the HHS and other agencies issued a ruling letting insurers and employers refuse to provide birth control if doing so violates their religious beliefs or moral convictions.
In separate cases from the Third and Ninth Circuits, the rules were found to be in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act having been issued in an arbitrary and capricious manner, and a nationwide injunction was placed on their enforcement.
[60] Barbara Boxer, Democratic Party Senator for California, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi favor the Obama policy.
Sandra Fluke was invited to present oral arguments on behalf of certain female student consumers dissatisfied with restrictions attached to registration for undergraduate and graduate attendance at Georgetown University School of Law.