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Trump rolls back Obama's rule requiring employers to provide women with birth control Trump rolls back Obama's rule requiring employers to provide women with birth control
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The Trump administration has rolled back the requirement that employer-provided health insurance plans pay for birth control.The Trump administration has rolled back the requirement that employer-provided health insurance plans pay for birth control.
Under a new rule, any employer with religious objections to birth control will now be allowed to omit coverage for contraception from their workers' plans. Under a new rule, any employer with religious objections to birth control will now be allowed to omit coverage for contraception from their workers' plans. 
Donald Trump had signalled in May that action was coming on the issue, signing an executive order instructing the the Department of Health and Human Services to address “conscience-based objections” to the mandate..  Donald Trump had signalled in May that action was coming on the issue, signing an executive order that instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to address “conscience-based objections” to the mandate.
“For too long, the federal government has used the power of the state as a weapon against people of faith, bullying and even punishing Americans for following their religious beliefs,” he said. “For too long, the federal government has used the power of the state as a weapon against people of faith, bullying and even punishing Americans for following their religious beliefs,” he said at the time.
Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, mandated that employers – with a few exceptions – offer health insurance that covers birth control without a co-pay.Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, mandated that employers – with a few exceptions – offer health insurance that covers birth control without a co-pay.
The rule change is likely to end lawsuits from Roman Catholic and other religious employers, which had battled the Obama administration for years over the controversial mandate. But it could also trigger a fresh round of litigation from groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Women’s Law Center.  More than 55 million women have access to birth control without co-pays because of the contraceptive coverage mandate, according to a study commissioned by the Obama administration. Following the rollback of the requirement, hundreds of thousands of women could lose birth control benefits they now receive at no cost under Obamacare.
Women’s rights organisations and some medical professionals have suggested that the rollback of the requirement could lead to a higher number of unintended pregnancies. According to officials on a press call, employers will not have to file anything with the government to stop offering the birth-control coverage; they just simply have to notify their employees of the decision, the newspaper The Hill reported.
  The rule change is likely to end lawsuits from Roman Catholic and other religious employers, which had battled the Obama administration for years over the controversial mandate. Senior HHS officials said the intent of the rule is to provide “relief” to these groups.
“We should have space for organisations to live out their religious ideas and not face discrimination because of their religious ideas. That was the case beforehand, and that ends today,” said one HHS official, according toThe Hill.
However, the rollback of the mandate could trigger a fresh round of litigation from groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Women’s Law Center. 
Women’s rights organisations and some medical professionals have suggested that the rule change could lead to a higher number of unintended pregnancies.