Insult, meet injury.
One year after the infamous Access Hollywood tape, which featured the president bragging about sexual assault, became public, his administration is making it harder for women to access contraceptives.
The Department of Health and Human Services has rolled back a provision of the Affordable Care Act which required employers to cover birth control as a preventive service, prohibiting insurers from charging women for the medication. In another step in its march to roll back Obama-era regulations, and rescind the progressive milestones of the last eight years, the Trump administration expanded the kinds of entities that can claim a "religious exemption" to providing women with essential healthcare.
The administration or HHS did not address whether women who would prefer not to subsidize men's viagra prescriptions would be similarly accommodated.
As NARAL's president, Ilyse Hogue, pointed out on Twitter, there was a certain irony to the timing of the change.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Women, male allies, members of congress, medical professionals, and women's advocates also reacted negatively to the news, under the hashtag #HandsOffMyBC, which was trending as of Friday afternoon Eastern time.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Rep. Jeff Duncan, a Republican from South Carolina, predictably praised the move on Twitter, calling it a win for "conscience rights" and "religious freedom."
In an emailed statement, the Center for Reproductive Rights said it was prepared to fight the "discriminatory" rule change in court. “The Trump administration continues to display a startling disregard for the reality of women’s health and lives," its CEO, Nancy Northup, wrote. "An employer or university can’t be allowed to use religious or moral beliefs to prevent a woman from planning her future and her family."
The ACLU has also announced it's suing the Trump administration over the new rule.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the women's advocacy group Ultraviolet is playing the Access Hollywood tape on loop for 12 hours, in view of the White House, under the hashtag #WeGrabBack.
Topics Activism Social Good Donald Trump
