02.17.16

Cantwell, Joining More Than 30 Senators, Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief to Support Affordable Access to Birth Control

Next month Supreme Court will hear Zubik v. Burwell, yet another challenge to health reform law’s birth control policy; Senators outline argument for protecting women’s access to affordable birth control

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today joined a group of more than 30 Democratic Senators in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on the need to protect women’s access to affordable birth control. The brief was filed ahead of next month’s arguments in the consolidated cases of Zubik v. Burwell, yet another attempt by some employers to interfere with women’s access to health care by denying women and their families insurance coverage for birth control.

Read the full brief HERE.

Currently, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance plans to cover the full range of Food and Drug Administration-approved birth control, without any out-of-pocket costs. Millions of women are already benefiting from this provision. Churches and other houses of worship are exempt from the requirement, and the law also allows some employers who have cited religious objections to “opt-out” of offering health insurance plans that cover contraception.

Nonetheless, some employers want to further deny their workers access to insurance coverage of birth control. In Zubik v. Burwell, these employers have challenged the ACA’s birth control policy, arguing that even the “opt-out” process violates their religious beliefs. In the Senators’ amicus brief, they argue that the policy—and its “opt-out” process—strikes the right balance between respecting religious liberty and ensuring that the women who work for these employers are able to receive coverage of birth control. The Senators also warn that striking down the policy may open the floodgates to even more challenges to public health and anti-discrimination laws.

The bicameral amicus brief was filed with the Supreme Court today and was signed by 33 Senators and 90 members of the House of Representatives who were part of Congressional passage of the ACA. Other Senate signers include Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.) Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N. Mex.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

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