Supreme Court To Hear Oral Arguments By Phone In Health Law Contraception Case
The case stems from a health law provision that requires most employers to cover birth control as a preventive service, at no charge to women in their health insurance plans. The Trump administration changed the rule in 2017 to allow organizations with religious or moral objections to opt out of coverage without having to provide an alternative avenue for their employees.
The Associated Press:
Supreme Court Set To Hear Obamacare Case Argued By Phone
The Supreme Court’s third day of hearing arguments by telephone is its first chance at a high-profile case, this one involving the Affordable Care Act. The justices are hearing a dispute Wednesday about Trump administration rules that would allow more employers who cite a religious or moral objection to opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women. (Gresko and Sherman, 5/6)
NPR:
Supreme Court To Hear Arguments In Obamacare-Birth Control Case
At issue in the case is a Trump administration rule that significantly cuts back on access to birth control under the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare, the massive overhaul of the health care system, sought to equalize preventive health care coverage for women and men by requiring employers to include free birth control in their health care plans. Houses of worship like churches and synagogues were automatically exempted from the provision, but religiously affiliated nonprofits like universities, charities and hospitals were not. (Totenberg, 5/6)
Roll Call:
Supreme Court To Hear Significant Birth Control Coverage Case
Opponents of the rules say they could have decreased access to contraceptives for hundreds of thousands of women. But supporters of the rules say they are needed to protect against religious discrimination for employers whose beliefs conflict with contraception. Multiple district courts issued nationwide injunctions against the rules. And in a case brought by Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit continued to block the rules. (Raman, 5/5)
CNBC:
Listen Live: Supreme Court Weighs Trump Contraceptive Coverage Rules
The two previous cases that came to the Supreme Court over the coverage mandate concerned whether Obama administration requirements imposed too harsh a burden on employers with religious objections to providing or facilitating contraceptive coverage. Wednesday’s case is the first to reach the Supreme Court under President Donald Trump, and asks the opposite question: Whether Trump administration rules released in 2017 provide too wide of a carve out for religious and moral objectors to deny women coverage. (Higgins, 5/6)
In other news —
The New York Times:
Trump Pushes Young Republicans Away. Abortion Pulls Them Back.
Jose Francisco Rodriguez supports a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Mary-Faith Martinez supports a public health care option. Ethan Lucky supports criminal justice reform. Autumn Crawford wants government action on climate change. One thing they have in common? They’re all Republicans. Like millennials, who are now in their mid-20s to 30s, members of Generation Z — born after 1996 — tend to lean left. But there are still plenty of young Republicans, and the generational divide that is so apparent between younger and older Democrats is no less present on the other side of the aisle. It’s just less visible. (Astor, 5/6)
