What’s Happening:
President Trump has been an outspoken critic of Obamacare since before he entered office. Once president, he began rolling out reforms that weakened Obamacare’s stranglehold on the medical industry.
One of his reforms was to expand birth control exemptions for any employer who expressed concerns based on religious or moral grounds.
The fight was taken to the Supreme Court. And in a historic 7-2 decision, the court says Trump’s birth control exemption is lawful:
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Trump administration’s expansion of ObamaCare birth control exemptions for employers…
Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority on Wednesday, said the move by federal agencies under President Trump to expand the carve-outs was lawful.
During the Obama administration, religious nonprofits were the only groups that could claim and exemption from paying for contraceptive coverage. Any other business, regardless of the employers’ religious or moral leanings, was forced to pay for birth control.
According to the Trump administration, this violated the employer’s religious rights. Additionally, he expanded the exemptions so that businesses of all kinds can refuse to pay for employee’s birth control if it conflicted with their beliefs.
Naturally, progressive activists challenged the order, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court. Justice Thomas wrote that employers with “religious and conscientious objections” to birth control should be exempt from this rule.
In a surprise ruling, two of the court’s liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer sided with the conservative wing, giving them the 7-2 decision.
Critics of Obamacare frequently questioned the need for employers to pay for a person’s birth control. If it’s “their body, their choice” they argued, why was it someone else’s responsibility to provide contraceptive?
Such concerns were overlooked by the Obama administration, which conservatives accused of trying to push birth control against religious people’s objections.
This ruling strikes a huge blow against Obamacare and moves the U.S. closer to a possible revoke.
Key Takeaways:
- The Supreme Court ruled to uphold Trump’s expansion of birth control exemptions under Obamacare.
- The court decided employers don’t have to pay for contraceptive, if it conflicts with moral or religious beliefs.
- The ruling was a historic 7-2 decision.
Source: The Hill
