Supreme Court upholds Trump rule letting employers opt out of birth control coverage


The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Wednesday to uphold a Trump administration rule that will let employers opt out of providing no-cost birth control if they cite moral or religious objections.
The Affordable Care Act mandated employers and insurers provide contraceptives as part of their coverage, with houses of worship exempt from the mandate. The Trump administration created a more expansive exception to that rule, and the Supreme Court agreed it had the authority to do so.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, with Ginsburg noting anywhere from 70,000 to 126,000 women will lose free access to birth control because of the ruling. A previous Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case allowed family-owned companies to opt out of providing birth control for moral or religious reasons.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Libya's 'curious' football cup, played in Italy to empty stadiums
Under The Radar 'Curious collaboration' saw Al-Ahli Tripoli crowned league champions in Milan before a handful of spectators
-
What taxes do you pay on a home sale?
The Explainer Some people — though not many — will need to pay capital gains taxes upon selling their home
-
Schools: The return of a dreaded fitness test
Feature Donald Trump is bringing the Presidential Fitness Test back to classrooms nationwide
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages