Discussion: ACLU Announces Lawsuit Against Trump HHS Change To Birth Control Mandate

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Perhaps something to ask yourselves is why birth control pills cost more than a fraction of a cent each to buy?

Agree or disagree with trump’s move, the elephant in the room is the massively inflated prices Americans pay for access to cheap basic drugs. If the system was fixed, things like this just wouldn’t be a big issue.

I share your concern about the cost of basic drugs but your argument isn’t relevant here. The administration is not objecting to the cost of birth control - they are giving employers the right to deny basic medications because of "moral “objections.” This means that, soon, blood transfusions might not be covered (or other procedures that anyone claims to object to.) You’re trying to distract from the issue at hand.

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And the same people who want to ban abortions are the same people who do not want women to have access to birth control.

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My point is that basic medications that are incredibly cheap to manufacture at scale should reflect this in their price, and so be cheap enough that the poorest in society can access them without having to rely on their employer or insurer at all. If that was fixed, the argument over this weird position we’re in -unique in the developed world if not the world - where employers are in some way linked to people’s birth control would be moot.

Well, blood transfusions aren’t cheap and some religious groups object to those. Trump is opening a door (based on the GOP false sense of “morality”) which many employers will be happy to walk through. I hope no one in your family needs any of the medication or services which will be labeled “objectionable” by some employer.

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Agree. Cheaper costs on all medical care is an important, but separate, issue. This is a move to establish some so-called moral ground to oppress women. Odd that nothing outside of female autonomy is defined by this ‘moral’ lens.

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… on top of your head, under the Russian-supplied white hood

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That’s what trolls do.

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Perhaps an employer who is an anti vaxxer will refuse to cover vaccinations in a medical plan. No flu shots, and most of staff is out with the flu. And one person dies from complications such as pneumonia. Another employer could deny vaccinations to prevent cervical cancer believing they promote” sexual activity. It is a slippier slope than we may imagine.

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I have a moral objection to bypass surgery or any other invasive treatment for cardiovascular disease. Shoulda eaten better or chosen fitter parents.

The whole religious accommodation thing is really the government establishing religion through the courts, because a judge always gets to say whose religion and “moral objection” counts and whose doesn’t.

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The broadening of employers’ right to “morally object” to certain medication or treatments is absolutely frightening. I don’t for one minute think that employers won’t be looking for many more examples of standard medical treatments which they will refuse to cover. Think of all the money they’ll save as people suffer. . . .and the power they gain over their employees.

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@brissy you ain’t no missy since it is not the cost of the birth control pills or other not so cheap contraceptives. The pills are relatively cheap, what’s not cheap is being charged a co-pay to see the doctor for the perscription, their not cheap if you are getting an IUD, shot or other non-daily form. What is also not cheap is if your visit is about b/c your employer insurance will not cover the cost of the visit.
And please don’t start on “well just sell them over the counter.” Some women take b/c for other issues besides preventing pregnancy.
And for your information it is cheaper to cover b/c, even the non oral type as compared to a pregnancy.

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Which should be a great way to strengthen the individual market, but then since health insurance is suppose to be a benefit to the employee the employer doesn’t raise that employee’s wage/salary if they don’t take the offered insurance.

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I live in one of those weird countries where healthcare provision isn’t dependent whatsoever on who my employer is. You’re missing the wood for the trees. Not to mention scaremongering about transfusions: birth control is a fundamentally different type of medicine to transfusions - namely it isn’t (for the vast majority of women) treating a disease or injury. Don’t get me wrong - I’m all ok favour of it being easily and cheaply available, but not a just so weird to tie it to someone’s employer.

As a genuine question, do employers have to cover vasectomys?

Which one? Just curious. Like we were saying earlier, some of the gang have wondered.

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I’m NOT scaremongering. An employer could easily argue (under the new definitions put out by the Trump administration) that a blood transfusion interferes with the body’s normal process (just like preventing a pregnancy is interrupting a “normal” bodily process) and is against his religion, so insurance at his company won’t cover it. One would have to be naive not to see this opening up all kinds of possibilities for coverage denial.

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… you’re trying to derail the discussion to avoid any discussion of what is actually taking place, since you’d prefer not to face that. It’s rather transparent, actually, and it’s one of your favorite tactics.

Since we live in the real world, we’ll continue to point out the utterly stupidity, not to mention cruelty, of such actions of the Trump administration. Should you care to discuss that topic, feel free to join us.

You’re missing the wood for the trees.

Nah, we’re just staying focused on what is happening here in the real world, as compared to that fantasy world you live in.

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Which employers have said they’re going to do this? If none or just a couple tiny weirdo ones, then you’re scaremongering. If loads have said they’re going to do this, I apologise.

Hobby Lobby successfully lobbied that they woundn’t have to provide birth control over moral objections. It’s already been done, and it doesn’t matter the size of the company or the number of companies. When any can break the mandate, the mandate dies.

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