Attorney General Raoul Defends Access To Birth Control and Other Contraceptive Care

CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 21 attorneys general, today filed an amicus brief challenging the first Trump administration’s 2017 and 2018 regulations undermining the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) guarantee of no-cost contraception coverage by employer health care plans. The regulations expand religious and moral exemptions to allow employers to strip workers of guaranteed, no-cost coverage for birth control and other contraceptive care and services.

In their brief (attached), Raoul and the coalition urge the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit to affirm the district court’s ruling that the regulations are unlawful.

“Contraceptives are safely used and relied upon by millions of American women as a fundamental part of their health care plans,” Raoul said. “I will continue to fight any attempt to water down the affordability protections contained in the Affordable Care Act that would diminish access to health care for Illinois residents.”

In the brief, Raoul and the coalition argue that the regulations threaten contraceptive coverage for hundreds of thousands of women, putting at risk their health and the economic and public health of the states generally. Today, more than 80% of women between ages 18 and 49 report having used some form of contraception in the past 12 months. With contraception costing an average of $584 per user per year, these unlawful regulations could shift an estimated $73.8 million in costs to individuals who rely on contraceptive care, creating significant barriers to accessing safe, effective health care. Raoul and the coalition also argue that states will face significant financial strain as they are forced to expend millions of dollars for replacement contraceptive care and services through state-funded programs.

Access to birth control and contraceptive care has been substantially reduced in the years since these regulations were first implemented, and because of changes in the reproductive health care landscape, this harm will be exacerbated if the regulations remain in place. Many clinics that provide reproductive health care services – which would have helped fill the gap these regulations create – have since had their funding decimated by the Trump administration. Moreover, a wave of cruel abortion restrictions following the overturning of Roe v. Wadehas further constrained the options available to women experiencing unintended pregnancies.

Raoul and the coalition argue that by limiting access to necessary contraceptive care, the unlawful regulations deepen already prevalent racial, gender and income disparities. People of color and people with low incomes are disproportionately likely to live in “contraceptive deserts,” or areas that lack reasonable access to the full range of contraceptive care. An estimated 19 million American women live in these deserts and face additional challenges to accessing birth control. The regulations threaten to exacerbate these already significant health disparities and make accessing birth control even more challenging for marginalized communities.

Raoul and the coalition urge the court to affirm the district court’s judgment striking down the Trump administration’s regulations, and protect access to birth control and contraceptive care for hundreds of thousands of women across the country.

Joining Raoul in filing this brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

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