Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition The Biden-Harris administration’s proposed rule to expand access to affordable contraception under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a timely and essential move, especially in the current political landscape where reproductive rights have been systematically eroded. This proposal would provide over-the-counter birth control without any cost sharing for women with […]
President Biden issues new Executive Order on access to contraceptives
Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition on Unsplash On Friday, President Biden issued an Executive Order demanding strengthened access to affordable contraceptives and family planning services. This is the President’s first executive order which centers on contraceptives and his third on reproductive health care. His two previous Executive Orders focused on securing access to reproductive […]
Maloney and Other Members of Congress Introduce Access to Birth Control Act
On Wednesday, November 17, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Robin Kelly, and Rep Katie Porter in the House and Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Patty Murray in the Senate introduced the Access to Birth Control Act to ensure that customers attempting to access birth control at pharmacies cannot be turned away. According to Rewire News, “thanks […]
Biden Announces Reversal of Trump’s Domestic Gag Rule
On Wednesday, the Biden Administration announced that they would be taking steps to undo the Trump-era domestic “gag” rule, which prevented clinics that referred patients for abortions from receiving federal funding. The proposed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule would revoke the Trump restrictions eventually, but not immediately. If implemented, the rule will […]
Supreme Court Upholds Religious and Moral Exemptions for ACA Birth Control Coverage
In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court upheld a Trump Administration rule which expands the types of organizations that can claim religious or moral exemptions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The rule allows these organizations to refuse to cover birth control under their health insurance plans. Justice Thomas wrote the majority opinion, and was […]
Supreme Court Considers Affordable Care Act Religious Exemption Rule
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will consider yet another case regarding whether employers can decline to cover contraceptives in their health care plans. Reproductive rights groups warn that depending on the outcome of the case, tens of thousands of American women could lose vital contraceptive coverage. The case, Little Sisters of the Poor and Paul […]
New Form of Birth Control Being Tested for Approval by FDA
Ovaprene, a new form of birth control, is being tested and would be the first barrier form of contraception to be released to the market since the internal condom in 2006. In recent years, most forms of contraception created are hormonal, including the birth control pill, the shot, the ring, and the patch. Hormonal forms […]
New Maryland Bill Proposes Parental Consent Requirement for IUDs
On January 8th the Maryland House of Delegates introduced a bill, House Bill 53, that would require minors to have written parental consent to get insertive contraceptive devices, such as the intrauterine device (IUD) and implantable rod. This bill does not require parental consent for minors to receive other forms of birth control, such as […]
Monthly Birth Control Pill Developed by Scientists
In a paper published Wednesday, MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital scientists say they have made progress on the development of a contraceptive pill that only needs to be taken once a month. The gelatin-coated pill, which has only been tested on pigs so far, dissolves in the stomach where it releases a six-armed star-shaped […]
Birth Control Delivery Startups Threatened by CVS Proposal to Cut Reimbursement Rates
Birth control mail order services are in danger after CVS indicated it would cut reimbursement rates for home delivery, putting members in jeopardy of losing access to their birth control due to rising costs. #CVSDeniesCare began trending on Twitter Thursday after birth control mail order service Pill Club posted a public plea to the pharmacy […]
Federal Appeals Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Birth Control Exemptions
Last Friday, the 3rd U.S Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a nation-wide injunction to block the Trump administration from enforcing new rules that would allow employers to obtain exemptions from an ACA requirement that insurance must cover women’s birth control. This decision upheld a district court decision issued in January that blocked regulations issued by […]
Trump Administration Imposes Domestic Gag Rule
The Trump administration is implementing a policy that prevents clinics that provide abortion counseling and referrals from receiving Title X Family Planning Program funding, funding that provides birth control, STD tests, cervical and breast cancer screenings, and reproductive health care to low-income and uninsured individuals. Under Title X, federal dollars already cannot directly fund abortion […]
FMF Launches Campaign to Oppose Alabama “Personhood” Amendment
The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) has launched a campaign to educate and mobilize students against a thinly-veiled “personhood” amendment to the Alabama state constitution on the ballot this November. Amendment 2 would grant full legal rights to fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses, declare that there is no constitutional right to abortion in Alabama, and pave the way to banning abortion and some forms of birth control in the state.
Uncategorized
Notre Dame Students Sue Over Denial of Birth Control Coverage
Irish 4 Reproductive Health, a student group at the University of Notre Dame, together with several individuals insured by the university, sued the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor as well as Notre Dame itself for entering into an agreement to deny students, university employees, and their dependents insurance coverage of birth control, in violation of U.S. Constitution and federal law.
Oregon Passes Reproductive Health Equity Bill
Last week, amidst the rise of anti-abortion state legislation, Oregon became the first state to pass legislation to solidify and ensure equal access to abortion and birth control for all state residents.
Senate Committee Votes to Give Free Birth Control to Non-Active Service Members
Last month, the Republican-controlled Senate Armed Services Committee passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that, if passed by Congress, would give free birth control to all members of the military and their dependents. Currently, women in the military are only granted this benefit while on active duty.
Pharmacists in New Mexico Can Now Write Birth Control Prescriptions
Pharmacists can now complete a training program and approval process developed by New Mexico physicians, nurses, and pharmacists in order to prescribe these contraceptives. As a result of this policy, women no longer need an appointment with a physician to receive a prescription. They only have to visit a pharmacy, talk to the trained pharmacist, and can receive such a prescription immediately.
Birth Control Still Not Universally Accessible 52 Years After Griswold Decision
In 1965, the Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law that made the use of contraceptives and the provision of information about family planning illegal. The case was the first ever to identify a right to privacy in the Constitution.
Draft Leaks of Trump Administration Massive Loophole for Birth Control Mandate
Under Trump’s advisement, federal officials have drafted a rule creating a massive loophole for employers to bypass the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring health insurance plans provided to employees to include contraception coverage. The draft, published by Vox, still requires said coverage, but greatly widens the scope exemption by allowing for anyone to issue claims of religious or moral objection in order to bypass the mandate.
House Passes Bill to Dismantle Healthcare
On Thursday the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill that repeals the Affordable Care Act (ACA), ends Medicaid as we know it, defunds Planned Parenthood, and kicks 24 million people off of health insurance.
