Women Sue Trump Administration for Attacks on Birth Control

Five women have come together in order to fight back against the Trump Administration’s attacks on Women’s Healthcare since the Trump administration has decided to roll back protections that require employers to cover birth control among their health benefits. Now, they are able to opt out of coverage by citing religious or moral objections, which could leave countless women without care.

Two of the women suing are Alicia Baker and Mary Shiraef, Broadly reports. Baker is currently using an IUD for birth control, until she and her partner are ready to have children. Her insurance provider, however, objects to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage mandate, and the Trump administration’s new rules allow such an objection to directly interfere with her health care coverage.

Mary Shiraef is a student at Notre Dame. The university announced on Tuesday that it would no longer be covering employees or students contraceptives, in line with the religious values the school maintains. Shiraef released a statement about how this choice by the school affects her future:

“It means I can decide if and when I have children. It also means I can entirely focus on the quality of my relationship, without fear of an unplanned pregnancy. It means I get to focus on my task at hand – working toward a Ph.D. – in equitable measure to my male colleagues. It has also improved my overall health. My IUD has reduced the symptoms of my irritable bowel syndrome, which only doubles the benefits of contraceptives for me.”

What is very frightening, and frustrating, is the lack of understanding of how much birth control costs—especially effective birth control. Condoms might be more affordable, but they are lower in effectiveness when used incorrectly, which they are prone to. Long-term birth control like IUDs are much more reliable, but require upkeep and regular checkup to ensure the health of the woman. It also reminds us that this is a conversation about women’s health that is being determined largely by men. While there are women who are anti-choice, men are the ones who are the forefront of anti-choice legislation and suffer little to no consequences for these actions.

The wording of the complaint states that these actions by the government “jeopardize the health, economic security, and equality of over 62 million women who currently have coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptive methods and related education and counseling without out-of-pocket costs.”

I’m sure that all of these places that are removing birth control are not replacing it with other sex education, longer maternity leave, or on-site daycare that might help either prevent pregnancy or assist working/expecting mothers. As a man once said, “If you’re preborn, you’re fine; if you’re preschool, you’re fucked.”

(via Broadly, image: JPC-PROD/Shutterstock.com)

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