NOW Urges HHS: No Refusal Clauses on Contraception

August 1, 2011

The National Organization for Women commends the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for issuing new guidelines for insurance plans to cover women's preventive health services under the Affordable Care Act. Among those guidelines, as recommended by the Institute of Medicine, is one that requires provision of contraceptive services without co-pays and deductibles. NOW had just sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, calling for the adoption of these recommendations and urging the department not to allow so-called refusal or conscience clauses to undermine women's access to birth control.

An Aug. 1 HHS press release indicates that the guidelines do allow religious institutions the option of not covering contraception services when offering insurance to their employees, noting that "this is the most common accommodation for churches available in a majority of the 28 states that already require insurance companies to cover contraception."

NOW President Terry O'Neill stated that no woman should be denied health care as basic as contraception, not even a woman who happens to work for a religious institution. "The U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom from being forced to observe any particular religious dictate. This so-called conscience clause is bad enough -- but even worse, we've heard that a more expansive refusal clause may be included in the final regulation. That's unacceptable. It would be a tragedy if millions of women were denied affordable access to contraception because HHS is ready to give in to a tiny minority of religious extremists who oppose birth control," said O'Neill.

O'Neill also expressed disappointment that HHS will not require insurers to implement this change immediately, allowing them to wait a full year before providing women's preventive health care services without co-pays or deductibles. "There is no good reason for further delay," O'Neill said. "Women need preventive health services now, especially as they are economically squeezed by unemployment or underemployment."

Read NOW's full letter (PDF) to Secretary Sebelius

More information on the HHS guidelines