The Contraceptive Clash

The Trump Administration’s final regulations broadening the scope of religious and moral exemptions to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive mandate could significantly affect access to birth control. After President Barack Obama signed the ACA, the law required insurance companies to cover certain preventive services, such as birth control and contraceptives, with no charge to patients. Religious organizations, however, objected to the contraceptive mandate, arguing that it infringed upon their religious beliefs. In response, the federal government allowed houses of worship and religiously affiliated nonprofit organizations to request exemptions from the mandate. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby further expanded the list of organizations that qualified for exemptions when it held that for-profit, private companies with a limited number of shareholders could also opt out of the ACA’s contraceptive mandate. The Trump Administration regulations expand religious exemptions again, making them available for “all types of non-governmental employers, including for-profit corporations,” regardless of size or the number of shareholders. Such employers may now cite moral objections—any personal beliefs “that oppose contraception” so long as they are sincerely held—in addition to religious objections. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court affirmed these regulations in Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania and held that the Trump Administration properly exercised its authority to create a religious and moral exception for certain employers. Most private employers can now opt out of the contraceptive mandate due to religious or moral objections without penalty. The decision will likely continue to face challenges in state courts and the regulations’ long-term effects remain uncertain. This week’s Saturday Seminar highlights the potential effects of the Trump Administration’s final contraceptive mandate regulations