WASHINGTON – Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., along with Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., today led a group of more than 30 Democratic senators in filing an amigo brief Thursday with the U.S. Supreme Court on the need to protect women’s access to affordable birth control.
The brief was filed ahead of next month’s arguments in the consolidated cases of Zubik contra Burwell, otro intento más de algunos empleadores de interferir con el acceso de las mujeres a la atención médica al negarles a las mujeres y sus familias cobertura de seguro para el control de la natalidad.
Today, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance plans to cover the full range of FDA-approved birth control, without any out-of-pocket costs. Millions of women are already benefiting from this provision, the lawmakers said.
Churches and other houses of worship are exempt from the requirement, and the law also allows some employers who have cited religious objections to “opt-out” of offering health insurance plans that cover contraception.
“Además de promover la salud de la mujer, el Congreso enfatizó que la ACA en general, y las disposiciones de atención preventiva para mujeres en particular, eran fundamentales para combatir la discriminación contra la mujer”, escribieron los senadores.
“In the years since the ACA’s enactment, women’s access to health care has improved dramatically, as reflected in the ability of women to obtain critical services, including contraception, and the reduced out-of-pocket costs of those services,” they added.
No obstante, algunos empleadores quieren negar aún más a sus trabajadores el acceso a la cobertura de seguro de control de la natalidad. En Zubik contra Burwell, these employers have challenged the ACA’s birth control policy in court, arguing that even the “opt-out” process violates their religious beliefs.
In the senators’ amigo En resumen, argumentan que la política, y su proceso de "exclusión voluntaria", logra el equilibrio correcto entre respetar la libertad religiosa y garantizar que las mujeres que trabajan para estos empleadores puedan recibir cobertura de control de la natalidad. Los senadores también advierten que anular la política puede invitar a más desafíos a las leyes de salud pública y contra la discriminación.
el bicameral amigo brief was filed with the Supreme Court Thursday and was signed by 33 senators and 90 members of the House of Representatives who were part of congressional passage of the ACA.
Other Senate signers include Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. and Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Ben Cardin, D-Md., Tom Carper, D-Del., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii,, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Pat Leahy, D-Vt., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Jon Tester, D-Mont., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
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