New rule proposed for no-cost over-the-counter birth control

(The Center Square) – The Biden administration said Monday it wants to expand contraception access as women’s reproductive rights remain a focal issue in the 2024 election.

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris said the proposed changes would cover over-the-counter daily contraception without a prescription, emergency contraception, condoms and spermicide at no cost. Private insurance would also be required to inform women about no-cost contraception options and could no longer claim moral exemptions on religious grounds.

The latter can impact faith-based employers, such as Christian hospitals and universities.

“Every woman in every state must have reproductive freedom and access to the health care they need,” Harris said. “That is why I have fought to lower health care costs and protect the ability of every woman to make her own decisions about her own body.”

The announcement comes two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion through the second trimester that was upheld for nearly 50 years in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

The ruling means states now control abortion regulations individually. Some – including Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington D.C. – impose no gestational restrictions. Others – such as Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia – ban it at conception, sometimes called “heartbeat” bills.

The rest limit the procedure from as few as six weeks to “fetal viability,” which is defined by up to 28 weeks, according to Ballotpedia.

In a separate White House statement, contraceptive services visits throughout federal health centers increased by 14% since the pandemic.

Critics argue overturning Roe v. Wade jeopardizes the lives of women in ban states, with many unable to travel elsewhere for the procedure.

The issue, a lynchpin of Democratic campaigns up and down the ballot, took center stage at the party’s national convention in Chicago in August.

“Kamala and Tim will protect your freedom,” President Joe Biden said during his speech, just over a month after he abandoned his re-election bid and endorsed Harris in his stead.  “They’ll protect your vote to right — your right to vote. They’ll protect your civil rights.”

He added, “And you know Trump will do everything to ban abortion nationwide.”

The former president posted on Truth Social platform earlier this year confirming he doesn’t support contraception access limits.

During a Sept. 10 debate in Philadelphia, Trump wouldn’t reveal if he’d sign a national abortion ban. Harris, meanwhile, sneered when pressed on legalizing abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy.

Of note, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Harris’s running mate, passed the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act in 2023. The act has no restrictions on abortion at any stage of pregnancy.