There are now over 35 lawsuits challenging a federal rule that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception without a co-pay. One after another, the plaintiffs in these cases are repeating their same, misguided argument that the rule violates their religious liberty. We filed friend-of-the-court briefs in several of these cases, including one yesterday in the District of Columbia, together with the ACLU of the Nation's Capital. As we’ve discussed before, the ACLU’s brief makes the point that religious beliefs cannot be used to discriminate against others, or to deny them rights and benefits. And specifically, in these cases, employers cannot foist their religion on their employees by taking away coverage for contraception. Access to contraception has given women the ability to make their own decisions about whether and when to have children, which in turn has given them control over their personal and professional lives. We hope the court will ultimately reject this challenge just as another court recently did in another case.

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