Blog of Rights
Sarah
Lipton-Lubet

Sarah Lipton-Lubet is a policy counsel in the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, where her work focuses on reproductive freedom and women’s rights. Sarah came to the ACLU from the Center for Reproductive Rights, and previously clerked for the Honorable Richard Paez of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as the Honorable Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Sarah earned a J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was Symposium Editor of the Yale Law Journal, and a B.A. summa cum laude from Northwestern University in American Studies.

02/03/2012
Using Religion to Discriminate

Gerson Gets it Wrong on Contraception

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:44pm

Earlier this week, Michael Gerson’s disregard for the health of women and their families appeared once again on the pages of the Washington Post.

The affront? The administration’s announcement that all new health insurance plans — except those held by churches and other houses of worship — will need to include coverage for birth control because it’s essential preventive health care for women.

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11/18/2011
Shaheen Amendment

The Shaheen Amendment Promises Basic Fairness for Servicewomen. Now Let's Get a Vote!

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:44pm

Today, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen took a historic stand for military women. Now it’s our turn to stand with her.

More than 400,000 women serve in the armed forces and put their lives at risk to preserve our rights and safeguard our freedom. Yet these women are denied access to the same care available to the civilians they protect. If you’re a woman putting your life on the line for your country in the U.S. military, your health insurance won’t cover abortion care even if you’re a victim of sexual assault.

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10/12/2011
EMTALA

Watch Your Back — They're Gambling with Your Life

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:28pm

The House is slated to vote today on an unprecedented bill that would allow hospitals to let women die at their doorsteps.

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05/23/2011

Defending the Rights of the Women Who Defend Us

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 6:41pm

On Monday, a group of representatives stood up for U.S. servicewomen, and submitted an amendment to the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that would end the unconscionable policy of denying rape survivors serving in the military health coverage for abortion care.

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10/25/2012
Birth Control Court Cases

Another Challenge to the Federal Contraception Rule, Another Friend-of-the-Court Brief

By Brigitte Amiri, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project & Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 2:26pm

There are now over 35 lawsuits challenging a federal rule that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception without a co-pay.

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08/15/2012
Using Religion to Discriminate

Another Contraception Challenge, Another Misguided Argument

By Brigitte Amiri, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project & Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Witold Walczak, Legal Director, ACLU of Pennsylvania at 4:14pm

As we’ve written before, history has a way of repeating itself. Private companies that are challenging the federal rule that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception without a co-pay are also repeating their same, misguided argument that the rule violates their religious liberty. Yesterday the ACLU filed an amicus brief in the most recent case raising these arguments – this time in a case brought by a lumber company.

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03/01/2012
Contraception

Victory! Senate Blocks Dangerous Blunt Amendment

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:42pm

Today, the Senate rejected the notion that your boss can decide that you shouldn't have health insurance for cancer screenings, or make you pay out of your pocket for your daughter's vaccinations. But how did such an extreme proposal like the Blunt amendment make its way to the Senate in the first place?

Two words: birth control. In 2012, almost 50 years after the Supreme Court first protected the right to contraception, and although virtually all women, of every religious background, use birth control at some point in their lives, some in Congress are leaving no stone unturned in an effort to roll back access to contraception.

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02/17/2012
Contraception

Wanted: Women on Birth Control, Not Men on Ham Sandwiches

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 6:17pm

Yesterday's House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on the new HHS rule that requires insurance plans to include birth control with no co-pay (except for those held by churches or religiously affiliated nonprofits like universities) has caused quite a stir. A few observations:

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01/20/2012
Using Religion to Discriminate

Score One for Women's Health! Obama Administration Stands Up For Birth Control

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:39pm

Today, the Obama administration announced that it would keep in place a proposed rule that ensures that new insurance plans include contraception coverage.

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12/01/2011

Who’s Abusing Their Power? House Oversight Committee’s Show-Trial Takes HHS to Task for Helping Trafficking Victims

By Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 6:28pm

In the upside-down, through-the looking-glass world we often find ourselves in, in our nation’s capital, today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing “investigating” why Catholic organizations only received $650 million in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services over the last three years, instead of $650 million and change. Never mind that under this administration, as Rep. Gerry Connolly noted, Catholic groups have gotten $100 million more than under Bush. What brought on this investigation? A several million dollar grant to provide services for human trafficking victims that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops bid on, but did not receive. The bishops and their political allies are crying discrimination. As Rep. John Tierney noted this morning, I’m sure a lot of people would like to be discriminated against like that.

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