President Trump is about to strike a major blow for religious liberty: He’s lifting the federal requirement forcing employers to cover their employees’ birth control costs.
Many companies opposed the regulation that resulted from Obamacare, since some forms of birth control are abortive — a procedure that goes directly against many owners’ and employees’ convictions. Being compelled to pay for such services violates these citizens’ religious rights.According to The Hill,
The Trump administration on Friday rolled back an ObamaCare requirement that employers include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans.
Under highly anticipated rules published Friday, any for-profit or non-profit employer or insurer can stop following the birth control mandate on moral and religious grounds.
The changes also let publicly traded companies obtain a religious exemption but not a moral one.
The rules take effect immediately.
According to senior HHS officials on a press call Friday, employers will not have to file anything with the government to stop offering the birth control coverage; instead, they simply have to notify their employees of the decision.
The move could potentially impact millions of Americans who now receive birth control with no co-payments.
The changes follow an executive order President Trump signed in April that instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to address “conscience-based objections” to the mandate, which has faced strong opposition from religious schools, charitable organizations and priests and nuns.
No employer should be forced to provide something for their workers, especially if doing so violates their conscience or religious beliefs.
If someone wants to use birth control, they can foot the bill themselves — as any responsible adult used to do.
[NOTE: This article was written by Michael Cantrell. Follow him on Twitter @MCantrell0928 and on Facebook]