Judge Blocks Trump Administration Contraceptive Coverage Rule

(Philadelphia, PA)  —  A federal judge is blocking Trump administration rules that exempted employers from providing birth control services as part of their health insurance coverage.  A U.S. district judge in Philadelphia issued a preliminary injunction today preventing the enforcement of the rules that allowed businesses or non-profits to deny contraceptive coverage on moral and religious grounds.  In her ruling, Judge Wendy Beetlestone noted the wide range of the new rules, which she said would allow businesses to deny birth control coverage for women employees for any moral reason they can think of outside of religion.  The judge also agreed that Pennsylvania’s attorney general was likely to succeed in his claim that the Trump administration did not follow proper procedure in issuing the new rules.