A California Judge Has Paused Trump’s Efforts To Alter Obamacare’s Contraceptive Mandate
President Trump has been increasingly vocal regarding his desire to dissemble Obamacare and alter the landscape of American health care. In an attempt to weaken an Obamacare mandate on contraceptives, he planned to take away regulations set in place by the previous administration. However, his plan was quickly foiled when a California Judge halted his actions, according to CNN.
The Trump Administration’s new rules were expected to be set into place this coming week. Known as the Final Rules, Trump’s new legislation would reportedly make it more difficult for women to purchase contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The goal of the Administration is to weaken the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring employers to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives free of charge.
Judge Haywood Gilliam of the California federal district court fears the new rules would have disastrous consequences on the nation as a whole. He stated that the nation would “face potentially dire public health and fiscal consequences from the implementation of the Final Rules.”
A federal judge stops, in some states, the Trump administration's weakening of Obamacare rules that force insurance companies to cover contraceptives https://t.co/2CjUZOMLxK pic.twitter.com/OAdoyFH4Ka
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 14, 2019
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra believes the new rules that Trump hopes to impose go against American law. He spoke out harshly against the Trump Administration, accusing them of hindering women from seeking their most fundamental rights. “The law couldn’t be clearer — employers have no business interfering in women’s healthcare decisions. Today’s court ruling stops another attempt by the Trump Administration to trample on women’s access to basic reproductive care,” he said.
Judge Haywood’s efforts do not protect every state from the new laws from taking place, however. His temporary block is limited to just the 13 Democratic states involved in the lawsuit and the District of Columbia. For the rest of the nation, the new rules will begin on January 14.
The first rule will allow employers to cite religious beliefs as proper reasoning behind not providing contraceptives to employees without a co-pay. This is an alteration to the original mandate set in place by the Obama Administration. Previously, it was only churches and other religious institutions that could get an exemption from the law. Religious-based hospitals or universities could attempt to fight the legislation. While they might be able to get an exemption preventing them from having to pay for contraceptives, their employees would still have the opportunity to get the products free of charge from their insurance company.
Attorney General of Pennsylvania John Shapiro spoke out against Trump’s new rules. “Women’s access to contraception is at risk because of an illegal rule issued by @realDonaldTrump. I sued last year — we stopped him — now he’s tried again to deny access. So, we’re back in court to stand up for women’s health care,” he tweeted.
