FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2017
[email protected]
Today, the Trump administration implemented a plan that allows employers, for any reason, to deny their employees coverage for birth control. This decimates the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit, which saves women an estimated $1.4 billion a year. Since the birth control benefit was implemented, the United States abortion rate hit its lowest point since the passage of Roe v. Wade.
NARAL President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement in response:
“Donald Trump’s latest dictate is a perfect execution of his passions: controlling women and robbing people of healthcare. At a time when the nation is grappling with very severe problems—from healing after the worst mass shooting in modern American history to devastation in Puerto Rico leaving millions of Americans without electricity or safe drinking water—the fact that our president decides to spend his time and energy on meddling with women’s birth control speaks volumes.
“Coming on the heels of the abortion ban and the failure to reauthorize CHIP this week, this action by the Trump administration reminds us that the anti-choice GOP is trying to impose a radical world view on the country. In their world, women should not be able to prevent pregnancy, choose an abortion, or have support in raising families. Birth control is the key to our ability to stay healthy, take care of our planned families, and contribute to our communities and society—all things that this GOP apparently stands in opposition to.
“But giving our bosses decision-making power over whether and which birth control we can have goes the extra mile to be destructive and demeaning. Donald Trump is flat-out wrong and going against public well-being and public opinion on this. He should reverse course immediately.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”
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