Posted on 10/10/2017 3:36:36 PM PDT by mdittmar
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Ferguson asks court in Seattle to declare new rules unlawful
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the Trump Administration’s new rules undermining women’s access to contraception.
The new rules would allow any company to deny coverage for contraceptive services to its female employees based on religious grounds. Additionally, certain types of organizations would also be able to deny this coverage on moral grounds.
If allowed to go forward, President Trump’s rules could have a significant impact on the more than 1.5 million Washington workers and their dependents who receive insurance through their employer’s self-funded plan. One study by the Center for American Progress found that contraception costs can generally exceed $1,000 a year without insurance coverage.
Some Washington women who currently use contraception may be denied no-cost coverage and be forced to turn to state-funded programs to receive the care they need. State-funded reproductive health services helped more than 90,000 patients in 2016 alone. More than three-quarters of those patients were women who used contraception, saving the state an estimated $160 million in maternal and birth-related costs, according to a report from the Washington State Department of Health.
“President Trump’s contraception rules are unfair, unlawful, and unconstitutional,” said Ferguson. “I refuse to let President Trump disregard our laws and our constitution in an effort to deny women access to contraception.”
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleges that the new rules violate the U.S. Constitution, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Civil Rights Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
Constitutional violations
The Trump Administration’s contraception rules violate two constitutional provisions –– the First and Fifth Amendments.
The rules violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by requiring individuals to bear the burdens of religions to which they do not belong. For example, the rules permit a for-profit business to impose the costs of its owner’s anti-contraception beliefs on employees who do not share those beliefs.
Only women, and not men, may have their contraceptive coverage denied based on their employer’s religious or moral objection. By making a gender-based distinction without sufficient justification, the rules violate the equal protection guarantee implicit in the Fifth Amendment.
Affordable Care Act violations
The Affordable Care Act guarantees preventive care at no added cost to patients. This includes preventive services specific to women’s health, including the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive methods. The Trump Administration’s new rules violate the ACA in multiple ways.
The new rules unlawfully contradict certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act, such as a prohibition against gender- or religious-based discrimination in health care access.
The ACA also prohibits any rule that “creates any unreasonable barrier to the ability of individuals to obtain appropriate medical care” or “limits the availability of health care treatment for the full duration of a patient’s medical needs.” The Trump Administration’s new rules violates both of these provisions.
Other legal violations
The contraception rules violate the Civil Rights Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination against women based on sex or the capacity to be pregnant. The rules result in women having less access to reproductive health care, which is discrimination based on their gender.
In addition, the Trump Administration issued the rules without proper notice or the opportunity for public comment, thereby violating the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs federal agency rule-making.
Ferguson is asking the court for an order declaring the new rules unlawful and an injunction halting their implementation. In addition to blocking the rule, the lawsuit seeks to recover costs and fees.
The lead attorneys in the case for Washington are Assistant Attorneys General Jeff Sprung and Alicia Young.
In 2017, the Attorney General’s Office has prevailed four times against the Trump Administration. Every court to have issued a decision has ruled in favor of the Washington Attorney General’s Office in cases it has brought against the Trump Administration.
More like $100. Once government gets involved the decimal point floats a bit.
We are being Sandra Fluked on this. Let’s not take the bait.
Not enough.
Or
A good start.
No kidding.
All that women need to do is to ask in job interviews if potential employer is willing to pay for the consequences of any activities that they engage in while not at work. If potential employer says no then scratch that employer off the list.
I do believe that the State of Washington could still require that insurance companies wishing to provide group health insurance in that state provide coverage of contraceptives for employees when the employer does not do so. The state could also set a limit on the premium charged.
Isn’t “Attorney General” an “Enforcement of law” position?
Isn’t the writing of laws reserved for Congress?
I’m in Washington and this guy is turning into a political activist in a position of law enforcement. I got an email from him, unsolicited, where he’s railing on and on about DACA and how “cruel” it is to people...
Not being provided contraceptives or abortion services is not bearing the burden of a religious belief. Since there is nothing to prevent a woman receiving those services of her own accord and wallet.
Yo Bob, the women can still all of the contraception and services like abortion. I just don’t have to pay for it now.
5.56mm
That’s 5-6 condoms a day. May be about right for the professionals.
“What do you call a lawyer at the bottom of the lake?”
A VERY SLOW START.
Nobody is taking away access to birth control. Tired of the left lying on this issue.
Venue shopping - that has to END!
The government forced a religion that believes abortion is a grave sub to condone that sin 8involuntarily. This IS a bbig fn deal.
Another good song.
Sleepy John Estes - “Drop Down Mama,” Verse 3, 1935:
Some of these women sure do make me tired
Got a handful of “Gimme”, a mouthful of “Much obliged”
Only women, not men, may benefit from having an employer pay for contraception. That violates the equal protection guarantee implicit in the Fifth Amendment. The only way to grant "equal protection" is to offer no coverage to either party. Pay for it yourself. It's not the responsibility of the taxpayers or fellow employees to subsidize your needs or wants.
I hope some State Employee files a lawsuit against hi state for not providing them with a Ho, House, car, Jet and tickets to the Sonics games. Oh yeah almost forgot Cigarettes and Free 45 ML.
This douchebag clearly fell and injured his brain.
Awwwww....Aren’t they cute with their little heads spinning around, spewing pea soup......
In King County, they have virtue signalling contests before the elections, to see who’s the most liberal of them all.
There’s a local radio host who I don’t always agree with, but he’s pegged Ferguson as “Sideshow Bob” and he’s dead on the money. This clown is all grandstanding all the time.
You think the shock of Boeing setting up HQs hither and yon would have woken the area to the price of unfettered moonbattery, but the younger and more PC area cash cow, Amazon, has started the process of getting away from the consequences of the very policies that Amazon CEO and moonbat benefactor Bezos approves of.
Trump has set in motion several circular firing squads, and Bob Ferguson is bangin’ away with the best of them.
ag ferguson please sue the feds for free cialis for men while you are at it. lol.
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