Newest Attack On Women’s Health: Ending The Birth Control Mandate (VIDEO)


One of the key components of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was the guarantee that women would be able to obtain contraceptive care without having to pay for it. Recognizing that pregnancy and birth cost far more than birth control, the ACA made it mandatory for every employer to provide birth control as part of its health insurance plan for employees.

Of course there was a reaction, and push back against this mandate. Some religious organizations claimed that providing birth control was contrary to their religious beliefs.

OK, said President Obama and the other authors of the ACA. If an organization wanted to opt out of the mandate on religious or moral grounds, all they had to do was to file a request with the government to do so.

Those church folks were not happy with this. They claimed that if they filed a request for a waiver, the government might find another way to provide this health care option to their employees. So they sued.

They claimed that forcing them to provide (or even help to provide) birth control to their employees was a violation of their religious freedom.

Never mind the fact that denying that right to those who work for them was a violation of their right to healthcare. These uber religious folk demanded that they be allowed to simply deny employees a basic insurance benefit.

The Obama administration kept fighting this battle.

But now we have Trump.

Now we have a man who care so little for women and their right to have control of their own bodies, that he is in the process of rolling back the ACA mandate. He is proposing a change to the law that would allow any and all employers to opt out of covering birth control.

No one would have to file a request with the government claiming religious rights. No employer would have to justify the reasons why they have decided to deny women employees the right to have no cost birth control.

In case you were wondering whether or not Donald Trump and his administration is completely misogynistic, this is the proof that you need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoFZFhfsDBE

Featured image via YouTube screengrab.

Karen is a retired elementary school teacher with many years of progressive activism behind her. She is the proud mother of three young adults who were all arrested with Occupy Wall Street. To see what she writes about in her spare time, check out her blog at "Empty Nest, Full Life"