Obama-Appointed Judges Halt Trump Administration’s New ACA Regulations on Birth Control

The judiciary once again struck one for the Obama White House, with a judge issuing a nationwide injunction on a new Affordable Care Act regulation concerning contraceptives. The Washington Post reported that the regulation expanded the exemption clause with regards to birth control; employers can now cite moral and religious as reasons for the exemption. The first ruling only barred implementation of this Trump administration regulation in 13 Democratic states, including the District of Columbia. This latest one once again pits the Obama judicial cohort against the Trump White House (via WaPo):

A pair of federal judges stepped in at the last moment to pause Trump administration rules that would restrict the ability of some women to get birth control at no charge because their employers object on religious or moral grounds.

A Pennsylvania district court judge issued a nationwide injunction Monday afternoon, just as the new policy was slated to take effect. That ruling came less than 24 hours after a California district court judge issued a more limited stay in 13 Democratic states and the District of Columbia, while challenges are being argued.

The rulings in rapid succession, both by judges appointed by Barack Obama, are the latest legal twists in a dispute over an expansion of health benefits for women under the Affordable Care Act that has wound through the courts for years.

The ACA, the sprawling 2010 health-care law pushed through by a Democratic Congress, says that people should be insured for preventive services without paying any out-of-pocket fees — and that women’s health services must be included. Under the law, all forms of FDA-approved contraception have been covered since 2012.

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