Trump Administration Loses Challenge to Birth Control Opt Out

Employers with religious or moral objections to providing health insurance that covers birth control must continue to do so or request an accommodation in California, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Virginia.

The Trump administration had no reason to push out interim final rules exempting those employers from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate without going through the normal notice and comment rulemaking procedure, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said Dec. 13.

The ruling may be of limited duration, however, as the administration issued final rules in November that are substantially similar to the interim final rules. ...