NY and CT attorneys general join to support ACA contraception coverage

The attorneys general for New York and Connecticut have joined a coalition of their peers from 20 states and the District of Columbia in filing an amicus brief in an appeals court case challenging the Trump administration”™s decision that enables employers to drop contraceptive care and services from their employees’ health insurance coverage.

In 2017 and 2018, the Trump administration issued rules that circumvented the American Care Act”™s (ACA) mandate on birth control coverage by allowing employers to cite religious and moral objections in omitting birth control coverage from their employees”™ health insurance. Two circuit courts issued injunctions against these new rules, but a Texas district court reversed those decisions. The case, DeOtte v. Azar, is before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.

“This is nothing more than another attempt to control women”™s bodies, their choices and their freedom,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said. “The ACA”™s contraceptive mandate has helped women maintain autonomy over their own reproductive choices, and we refuse to go backwards and allow the federal government to undo all the progress that has been made. While the Trump Administration and the courts continue down the path to make it harder for women ”“ especially those who cannot afford contraceptives ”“ to maintain access, we will never stop fighting for women across the country.”

“Women deserve equal, unfettered access to birth control regardless of where they work. Nothing in the Affordable Care Act infringes upon an employer’s religious freedom, a finding that has been upheld by courts across the country,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said. “Efforts by the Trump administration to regulate women”™s personal health choices are harmful and unlawful and must be struck down.”