Employers granted right to curb birth control coverage
Court ruling a significant win for Trump, who relies on Christian voters
WASHINGTON— The U.S. Supreme Court ruled broadly Wednesday in favour of the religious rights of employers in two cases that could leave more than 70,000 women without free contraception and tens of thousands of people with no way to sue for job discrimination.
In both cases the court ruled 7-2, with both liberal and conservative justices ruling in favour of the Trump administration and religious employers.
In the more prominent of the two cases, involving former U.S. president Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, the justices green-lighted changes the Trump administration had sought. The administration announced in 2017 that it would allow more employers to opt out of providing the no-cost birth control coverage required under the law, but lower courts had blocked the changes.
The ruling is a significant election-year win for President Donald Trump, who counts on heavy support from evangelicals and other Christian groups for votes and policy backing. On Wednesday, the White House joined conservative groups in cheering the court’s contraception decision.
Liberal groups and Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, decried the decision, which she called a “fundamental misreading” of the health-care law.
The Trump administration is still seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. It has joined Texas and other Republican-led states in calling on the justices to do just that.
That case is scheduled to be argued in the court term that begins in October.
Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority of the court, said in Wednesday’s decision that the administration had the authority to make the changes and followed appropriate procedures in doing so.
The government had previously estimated that the rule changes would cause between 70,000 women and 126,000 women to lose contraception coverage in one year.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg cited those numbers in dissenting.