Barriers to Reproductive Care

Opponents of birth control in Congress are working night and day to enact new laws and policies that would deny millions of women access to birth control -- including access already guaranteed to women by law. Thankfully, so far, supporters of birth control have stopped the worst of these Congressional attacks.  Although the anti-birth control efforts have taken several forms, they all would have the same effect: taking birth control coverage away from women nationwide. A comparison of opponents’ and supporters’ legislative priorities makes the difference clear: while opponents of contraception would take it away from women, supporters work to ensure that women have access to affordable birth control.

The IOM released its findings on July 19, 2011, recommending coverage and no cost-sharing for a range of important women's preventive health services including screening for cervical cancer; critical health services for pregnant women, including breastfeeding support; screening for intimate partner violence; and all FDA-approved forms of contraception.3 HHS adopted the IOM's recommendations on August 1, 2011. Unfortunately, HHS has included in its Interim Final Rules (IFR) a provision that would allow certain religious employers to exclude contraceptive services from their employees' health plans. Rather than giving all women true contraceptive access, the exemption arbitrarily precludes certain women from receiving needed preventive care. Women who work for employers who invoke an exemption will not receive the intended benefits, and will be required to pay for what the IOM and HHS itself have determined should be available with no co-pay.