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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Scott Swenson, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org

Obama Administration Protects Birth Control Access for Women

WASHINGTON

The Obama administration announced today that it will keep in place a proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that determines which essential services are covered by new health insurance plans. The administration resisted heavy pressure from the United States Conference on Catholic Bishops and other groups to permit a broad range of religiously affiliated organizations to deny contraception coverage to their employees. The administration's decision will ensure effective birth control will be more affordable for millions of women.

"Virtually all women from all religious backgrounds use contraception at some point in their lives to protect their health and plan their families and their lives," said Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office. "With today's action, the administration refused to give religious employers the right to discriminate."

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

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