{"id":7645,"date":"2017-10-19T16:40:20","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T23:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7645"},"modified":"2018-03-05T22:04:53","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T06:04:53","slug":"contraceptive-coverage-and-the-balance-between-conscience-and-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7645","title":{"rendered":"Contraceptive Coverage and the Balance Between Conscience and Access"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"author\">Ronit Y. Stahl,PhD; Holly Fernandez Lynch, JD, MBE<\/p>\n<p>When the Obama administration included contraception in the essential benefits package to be covered by employer-sponsored health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, it sought to preserve access for women while addressing the concerns of employers with religious objections. Although the accommodations and exemptions were not enough for some employers, balance was the ultimate goal. This also was reflected in <i>Zubik v Burwell<\/i>, the Supreme Court\u2019s most recent decision on the matter; on May 16, 2016, the justices remanded the litigants to the lower court so they could be afforded the opportunity to reach a compromise between religious exercise and seamless contraceptive coverage. No further compromise was forthcoming.<\/p>\n<p>Now the Trump administration has rejected balance as a worthwhile goal.<sup><a class=\"ref-link section-jump-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2659390#jvp170166r1\" data-tab-toggle=\".tab-nav-references\">1<\/a><\/sup> Its new contraceptive coverage rules, released on October 6, 2017, prioritize conscientious objection over access.<sup><a class=\"ref-link section-jump-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2659390#jvp170166r2\" data-tab-toggle=\".tab-nav-references\">2<\/a><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">,<\/span><a class=\"ref-link section-jump-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2659390#jvp170166r3\" data-tab-toggle=\".tab-nav-references\">3<\/a><\/sup> The rules take effect immediately, and new legal challenges, this time on behalf of patients rather than objecting employers, have already begun.<sup><a class=\"ref-link section-jump-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2659390#jvp170166r4\" data-tab-toggle=\".tab-nav-references\">4<\/a><\/sup> The new rules preserve the default requirement that employers must include free access to contraceptives as part of their insurance plans. However, the rules now exempt employers with religious or moral objections to contraceptives, without requiring any alternative approaches to ensure that beneficiaries can obtain contraceptives at no cost.<sup><a class=\"ref-link section-jump-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2659390#jvp170166r2\" data-tab-toggle=\".tab-nav-references\">2<\/a><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">,<\/span><a class=\"ref-link section-jump-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2659390#jvp170166r3\" data-tab-toggle=\".tab-nav-references\">3<\/a><\/sup><br \/>\n[<a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2659390\">Full Text<\/a>]<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Stahl RY, Lynch HF. Contraceptive Coverage and the Balance Between Conscience and Access. <em>JAMA.<\/em> Published online October 19, 2017. doi:10.1001\/jama.2017.17086<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ronit Y. Stahl,PhD; Holly Fernandez Lynch, JD, MBE When the Obama administration included contraception in the essential benefits package to be covered by employer-sponsored health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, it sought to preserve access for women while addressing the concerns of employers with religious objections. Although the accommodations and exemptions were not &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7645\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Contraceptive Coverage and the Balance Between Conscience and Access&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[650,508,8,295,28],"tags":[183,509,2742],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-7645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contraception","category-ethical-commentary","category-legal-commentary","category-religious-freedom","category-usa","tag-hhs-preventive-services-mandate","tag-holly-fernandez-lynch","tag-ronit-y-stahl"],"yoast_head":"\r\n<title>Contraceptive Coverage and the Balance Between Conscience and Access - Protection of Conscience Project News<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=7645\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contraceptive Coverage and the Balance Between Conscience and Access - Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ronit Y. Stahl,PhD; Holly Fernandez Lynch, JD, MBE When the Obama administration included contraception in the essential benefits package to be covered by employer-sponsored health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, it sought to preserve access for women while addressing the concerns of employers with religious objections. 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