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Media-outlets-outline-state-by-state-impact-overturning-Roe

Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

The Supreme Court just paved the way to allow employees to deny contraceptive coverage based on a right-wing media lie

Special Programs Abortion Rights & Reproductive Health

Written by Julie Tulbert

Published 07/08/20 3:02 PM EDT

On July 8, the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s rollback of the Affordable Care Act rules that required employers provide contraceptive coverage to their employees. The years-long battle over the mandate stemmed from right-wing media lies about contraceptives causing abortions.

As Politico wrote, the decision in Little Sisters v. Pennsylvania (consolidated with Trump v. Pennsylvania) “allows the Trump administration to move forward with rules that would allow virtually any employer to claim a religious or moral exemption to providing birth control coverage.” The Supreme Court had previously addressed the issues related to when and how the ACA must carve out exemptions in its contraception mandate for religiously affiliated organizations in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby in 2014 and Zubik v. Burwell in 2016.

Journalists and activists reacted on Twitter, explaining the impact of the decision:

The Supreme Court’s ruling wrongly validates right-wing media misinformation about why religious entities like the Little Sisters of the Poor demanded exemptions under the ACA in the first place. As seen in previous iterations of this case, the arguments against all employers providing contraceptive coverage hinge on the lie that many birth control options are “abortifacients.” On Twitter, right-wing media figures and abortion opponents reacted to the decision by spreading this misinformation further:

In addition, right-wing media and abortion opponents attacked those correctly sounding the alarm about the impact of the decision:

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In This Article

  • Supreme Court

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  • Donald Trump

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  • Birth control

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