Should Your Boss Dictate Your Family Planning Options? President Trump Thinks So.
resident Donald Trump finally made it clear today. He believes business owners like him should have a decisive role in their female employees’ intimate and personal family planning decisions.
In two new rules released this morning, the Trump administration authorized virtually any employer to deny its employees contraceptive coverage based on a religious or moral objection. This means that a woman could lose birth control coverage — a benefit that is otherwise guaranteed by law — simply because her boss has a religious objection to it.
And because these rules go into effect immediately, soon women will literally be paying for their bosses’ beliefs.
The rules will undermine the Affordable Care Act’s guarantee of coverage for birth control without a copay. The birth control benefit allows women to choose any Food and Drug Administration-approved birth control method free of cost. It has been a game changer for women since taking effect in 2012 — it’s estimated that women saved more than $1 billion on birth control pills alone in 2013.
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