A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump Administration birth control policy from going into effect in Washington and a dozen other states, due to a lawsuit brought by those states’ attorneys general.
In his decision, California U.S. Judge Haywood Gilliam said Trump administration rules that allow more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control pose “potentially dire” financial and public health consequences for the 13 states and Washington, D.C. Gilliam Sunday granted a request for a preliminary injunction, but limited his order to California, Washington, New York and the other plaintiffs before him. They sought to prevent the rules from taking effect Mondayh while a lawsuit against them moved forward.
The judge said the states had shown that the rules would result in the loss of employer-covered birth control coverage, forcing thousands of women to turn for contraceptives to programs paid for by the state. Gilliam added the rules were also likely to increase the rate of unintended pregnancies, creating additional costs for the states.
The changes would allow more employers, including publicly traded companies, to opt out of providing no-cost contraceptive coverage to women by claiming religious objections. Some private employers could also object on moral grounds.
In his ruling, Gilliam rejected the states’ request for a nationwide injunction, though he noted that his decision meant women in other states were at risk of losing access to free contraceptives. The judge said the states had not met the “high threshold” for a nationwide order required by a U.S. appeals court. (AP)
