US: Lambda Legal endorses bill to restore contraceptive coverage
Lambda Legal announced that it has endorsed the Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act which was introduced by congressional Democrats on Wednesday.
The bill — which would ensure that employers could not interfere with their employee’s contraceptive decisions — is intended to counteract the US Supreme Court’s June Hobby Lobby ruling. The ruling stated that certain for-profit companies are exempt for religious reasons from complying with the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage requirements.
Lambda Legal said in a statement on their website that contraception is a core health service for all women, including bisexual women and lesbians “for treating endometriosis, related pelvic pain and other health problems as well as for preventing pregnancy”.
Lambda Legal stated that the legislation would “restore the contraceptive coverage requirement guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act and also protect coverage of other health services against employers who want to impose their beliefs on their employees by denying benefits.”
The bill was introduced by US Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Mark Udall (D-CO). Murray stated that last week she saw the US Supreme Court give corporations the green light to deny legally mandated coverage to their employees.
She said: “After five justices decided last week that an employer’s personal views can interfere with women’s access to essential health services, we in Congress need to act quickly to right this wrong.”
The bill will prohibit employers from refusing to cover health coverage, including contraception, that is guaranteed under federal law.
