US Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D)

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 2,152)

US Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D) is cosponsoring a bill that would reverse the dangerous Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case.  The decision allows corporations to claim religious views as a reason to deny women coverage for contraception and other forms of reproductive health according to a press release issued by her office today.

“Decisions about women’s health should be left to women and not their bosses,”Pingree said in the press release.  “The Supreme Court was wrong to allow the CEO of a corporation to use his personal beliefs to block the coverage of something as basic as birth control.  Almost all women use birth control at some point in their lives and preventive health care for women should not be a controversial issue.  I hope Republican leaders in the House let us vote on this bill.”

The bill, the Protect Women’s Health from  corporate Interference Act of 2014, would keep in place protections for genuinely religious institutions, like churches and synagogues, while restoring the mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires employees to provide preventive reproductive health coverage.

Since the ACA became law, women in the US have saved $438 m on birth control and $30 m women are now eligible for birth control without a copay.

“If we allow for-profit corporations to deny coverage for birth control because of their beliefs, it’s only a matter of time before some employers attempt to refuse coverage of other vital services like immunization, blood transfusions and HIV treatment all in the name of religion,”said Pingree.