Teacher sues Trump over contraception

A Denver school teacher has sued President Donald Trump claiming his recent administrative rule changes creating religious and moral exemptions to the Affordable Care Act violate her rights and discriminate against women.

Jessica Campbell, 30, uses hormonal contraception for medical reasons, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Denver on her behalf by Denver attorneys Alan Kennedy-Shaffer and Joel Judd.

The lawsuit seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction to prevent Trump and several of his cabinet members from enforcing two interim final rules, or IFRs: the religious and moral exemptions of the Affordable Care Act.

The claim names Trump, Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Eric Hargan, Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin as defendants.

Campbell also seeks declarations that Trump’s IFRs, implemented on Oct. 6, violate federal laws, the U.S. Constitution and provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

The IFRs allow any entity — not just churches or closely held corporations — to invoke religious or moral beliefs to block employees from receiving contraception insurance coverage, the lawsuit says. They allow employers to dictate whether or not their female employees can reliably and affordably get contraception from their insurance provider, it says.

Campbell receives health insurance through her employer, the Colorado Academy, whose head of school, Mike Davis, said Friday that health insurance benefits provided to Campbell by the private school “include coverage for contraception and contraceptive care.”