NWLC and Supporters Submit Unprecedented Number of Comments on Contraceptive Coverage

(Washington, D.C.) This morning, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and other leading women’s health and advocacy organizations submitted nearly 350,000 comments to the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) in support of ensuring women’s access to birth control without co-pays or hassles, regardless of where they work.

“This unprecedented number of supporters spoke up for the Obama administration’s plan to ensure women’s access to seamless coverage of affordable birth control, no matter where they work or who their boss is,” said NWLC Co-President Marcia Greenberger. “When studies show that 99% of sexually active women use birth control, and that Catholic women use it at nearly the same rate, it is simply unacceptable to allow some employers to block their employees’ ability to get this basic health care.”

To date, 60 lawsuits have been filed in federal courts challenging the no-cost-sharing provision of the health care law. Many of these have been filed by for-profit companies pushing to allow bosses to make women’s reproductive health decisions. The National Women’s Law Center has filed friend-of-the-court briefs detailing the compelling government interests in healthy women and families furthered by the contraceptive coverage benefit.

“The lawsuits challenging the contraceptive coverage benefit will decide whether a boss’s religious beliefs should trump women’s decisions about their health. These challenges have no legal basis and must fail. Access to affordable birth control allows women to prevent unintended pregnancies, plan the timing and size of their families, thereby fostering healthier children, and protect women’s own health. It also addresses gender gaps in the provision of health care and improves economic outcomes for women.”

For more information on the contraceptive coverage lawsuits: http://www.nwlc.org/overview-lawsuits-challenging-affordable-care-act’s-no-cost-sharing-contraceptive-coverage-benefi

###