WHEREAS, On October 6, 2017 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new rules in which a broad range of employers—including nonprofits, private firms, and publicly traded companies—can deny birth control benefits through their health insurance plans if they have a “sincerely held religious or moral objection”; and
WHEREAS, The new rules, which take effect immediately, undercut a key feature of the Affordable Care Act, which requires birth control coverage as an extension of the government’s compelling interest in protecting women’s health; and
WHEREAS, According to the National Women’s Law Center, over 55 million women in the U.S. have birth control coverage with zero out-of-pocket costs. In 2013, the mandate saved women an estimated $1.4 billion on birth control pills alone and the
number of women paying for contraceptives fell from nearly 21 percent in 2012 to fewer than 4 percent by 2014
; and
WHEREAS,
In addition to preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing abortions, birth control is used to treat a variety of medical conditions such as endometriosis, hormonal imbalances or polycystic ovarian syndrome—
treatments which for many women are subsidized through the Affordable Care Act; and
WHEREAS, Policy experts argue that this rule change could open the door to hundreds of employers dropping coverage, leaving hundreds of thousands of women without benefits, undermining health professionals from acting in the best interests of their patients, and turning back the clock on women's health; and
WHEREAS, The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Women's Law Center, and other groups have already filed suit against the Trump administration on the grounds that the rules both violate the separation of church and state and discriminate against women by allowing employers to withhold a benefit that is guaranteed by law; and
WHEREAS, As the Trump Administration continues its pattern of discriminatory, unfair, and unconstitutional executive actions, it is critical that we continue to stand up and resist these attacks on women; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby opposes the decision by the Trump Administration to roll back access to contraceptive coverage for female employees under the Affordable Care Act.
End