PRESS RELEASE: Birth control oral arguments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 6, 2020 NAPAWF Contact: Nikki Metzgar (202) 599-7642 / nmetzgar@napawf.org NWLC Contact: Olympia Feil (202) 588-5180 / ofeil@nwlc.org SisterLove Contact: 404-505-7777 / smiller@sisterlove.org Reproductive Rights and Justice Advocates React to Oral Arguments in Supreme Court Case Concerning Birth Control Access Washington, D.C. -- Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two consolidated cases—Trump v. Pennsylvania and Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania—both challenging the Trump administration’s rules that would allow virtually any employer or university to declare itself exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) requirement that health plans cover birth control without out-of-pocket costs. If the Supreme Court allows the rules to go into effect, hundreds of thousands of people could lose their birth control coverage and workers with low wages or who face other barriers to care will be the most impacted. In April, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, National Women’s Law Center, and SisterLove, Inc. and 50 signatory organizations filed an amicus brief in the case. These groups previously filed an amicus brief in Trump v. Pennsylvania in the Third Circuit and have been fighting the administration’s sweeping exemptions to the ACA’s birth control benefit since the rule was issued in 2017. These organizations and the communities they represent reflect those that will experience the disproportionate harm caused by these rules. National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Executive Director Sung Yeon Choimorrow issued the following statement in response: “The Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate was a huge step forward for Asian American and Pacific Islander women and these rules roll back the scope of that progress. Many AAPI women are already left without crucial sexual health and family planning services, because of immigration status, racial bias, high out-of-pocket costs, and language barriers. To further constrict our access to reproductive health care is to deny us agency and control over our lives and our families.” National Women’s Law Center President and CEO Fatima Goss Graves issued the following statement in response: “Birth control is critical to people’s health and equality. People must have the ability to plan, space, and prevent pregnancy, without financial barriers - especially at a time when millions of people are losing their jobs and families have less money on hand for necessities. The Court must protect access to health care, not allow employers to take it away. If Trump's rules go into effect, they would harm real people around the country, especially those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. We will keep fighting alongside our partners until every person has access to birth control, no matter where they work or go to school.” SisterLove, Inc’s Founder and President Dazon Dixon Diallo issued the following statement in response: “SisterLove, as a Reproductive Justice organization, strongly believes that people who can get pregnant must have the right and ability to decide if, when, and how they want to experience a pregnancy. Access to safe, legal, and affordable contraception is a necessity and remains essential to historically disenfranchised communities that have been denied the health care they need. The ACA’s contraception mandate was an incredible step forward allowing people to access their reproductive rights. The Supreme Court must protect the health care rights of millions of people. If the Trump Administration’s rule goes into effect, people will be forced to choose between their employment and their right to access reproductive care. In these uncertain times, access to affordable care is paramount.” # # # The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities. The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice — in the courts, in public policy, and in our society — working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us — especially those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For more than 45 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women. Find out more at NWLC.org. SisterLove, Inc., is the oldest women-centered HIV and sexual & reproductive health organization in the Southeastern United States. It was founded in 1989 to address HIV-related education, prevention and research, and to support the rights of reproductive justice for all women and girls. SisterLove’s mission is to eradicate the impact of HIV and other sexual and reproductive oppressions on all women and their communities in the US and globally. SisterLove, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with a satellite office in Johannesburg, South Africa.