Trump birth control coverage rules blocked nationwide

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge on Monday put a nationwide hold on Trump administration rules that allow more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control.

U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in Philadelphia agreed with a lawsuit originally filed by Pennsylvania, citing the potential harm to states should the rules be enforced.

Numerous citizens could lose contraceptive coverage, Beetlestone wrote, resulting in the increased use of state-funded contraceptive services, as well as increased costs to state services from unintended pregnancies.

The rules, scheduled to take effect Monday, would change a mandate under 2010’s Affordable Care Act by allowing more employers, including publicly traded companies, to opt out of providing no-cost contraceptive coverage to women by claiming religious objections. Some private employers could also now object on moral grounds.

Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, called the court ruling a “victory for the health and economic independence of women” and the rejection of a Trump administration move to violate a federal law that requires insurers to cover the services.

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“Congress hasn’t changed that law, and the president can’t simply ignore it with an illegal rule,” Shapiro said.

New Jersey later joined Pennsylvania in suing.

In issuing the injunction, Beetlestone wrote in her opinion that the states were likely to win their lawsuit’s claims that Trump’s administration violated procedural requirements for how regulations must be created and that the rules exceed the scope of authority under the Affordable Care Act.

The Department of Justice did not say whether it would appeal, saying only that it will “continue to vigorously defend religious liberty.” The Department of Health and Human Services said the rules affirm the administration’s commitment to upholding constitutional freedoms.

“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,” Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said in a statement.

On Sunday, a federal judge in California blocked the rules from taking effect in the jurisdictions in the lawsuit before him. Those included California, New York and 11 other states along with Washington, D.C.

At issue is a requirement under former Democratic President Barack Obama’s health care law that birth control services be covered at no additional cost.

Obama officials included exemptions for religious organizations. But the administration of President Donald Trump, a Republican, sought to expand those exemptions and added “moral convictions” as a basis to opt out of providing birth control services.

The Justice Department has argued that the new rules “protect a narrow class of sincere religious and moral objectors from being forced to facilitate practices that conflict with their beliefs.”

Beetlestone had previously blocked an interim version of the rules in a December 2017 ruling. In November, the Trump administration rolled out a final version of the rule, prompting another challenge by states.

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Associated Press writer Sudhin Thanawala in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Marc Levy, The Associated Press