Back to News & Commentary

House Takes Aim at Women's Health in Shutdown Fight

Sarah Lipton-Lubet,
ACLU Washington Legislative Office
Share This Page
September 30, 2013

If you thought last week’s shenanigans in Congress couldn’t get any more ridiculous, think again.

This weekend anti-choice members of the House took direct aim at women’s health. They included a provision in their continuing resolution that would give your boss a veto over your health care if they have moral or religious objections to it. Not everybody’s health care, though—just women’s.

In this clutch moment that will determine whether the entire federal government’s doors will shut when the clock hits midnight tonight, the House leadership wants to hinge that decision on cutting off women’s coverage for preventive care. This includes contraceptive coverage, which is a critically important piece of the Affordable Care Act.

There are already over 70 lawsuits in federal court trying to give employers the right to impose their religion on employees and discriminate against them by denying birth control coverage. So far, women are winning in the courts of appeal 2 to 1, and it’s a good bet that this is headed to the Supreme Court.

But the House went after more than just birth control this weekend with its new refusal provision—from HIV screening to breastfeeding supplies for new moms, your boss could decide whether you get coverage for any of the women’s preventive health services covered under the Affordable Care Act.

Religion is not a license to discriminate, and women’s health isn’t a political game. It’s time to shut down attacks on women’s health, not the government.

Learn more about abortion legislation and other civil liberty issues: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

Learn More About the Issues on This Page