{"id":173656,"date":"2017-10-20T18:54:23","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T22:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=173656"},"modified":"2017-10-20T22:42:01","modified_gmt":"2017-10-21T02:42:01","slug":"group-of-u-s-senators-seeks-to-undo-trumps-conscience-protections-for-employers-on-contraceptive-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/group-of-u-s-senators-seeks-to-undo-trumps-conscience-protections-for-employers-on-contraceptive-mandate\/","title":{"rendered":"Group of U.S. senators seeks to undo Trump’s conscience protections for employers on contraceptive mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Senator

Sen. Patty Murray (far right)<\/p><\/div>\n

Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) thinks<\/a> women need birth control in order to be “healthy” and “financially secure.” She also believes that “access” to birth control means something other than simply the ability to obtain a product or service — she believes employers should be mandated to provide it for their employees, whether they want to or not.<\/p>\n

That’s why Murray and 35 of her Senate colleagues are attempting to remove<\/em> the protections on employers with religious or moral objections, who object to being forced to pay for and provide employees potentially abortifacient birth control. On October 6, President Trump extended those protections by way of an executive order. Live Action News’ Rebecca Downs reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The mandate required employers to provide all forms of contraception to their employees, including sterilization and potential abortifacients. While the Obama administration did tout exemptions for religious organizations, the exemptions were so narrow they amounted to very little. Trump\u2019s decision to lift the mandates comes after several years of legal battles.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Townhall.com reports<\/a> on the “Protect Access to Birth Control Act,” introduced by Murray, writing, “The ‘Protect Access to Birth Control Act’ is brief, stating<\/a> that the religious and moral exemptions ‘shall have no force or effect, and shall be treated as though such rules had never taken effect.'”<\/p>\n

Townhall quotes Murray as saying that “President Trump wants to make birth control about ideology.” But forcing an employer to pay for and\/or provide a drug or procedure that can potentially take a human life is very much an ethical issue — not just an issue of preventing pregnancy.<\/p>\n