Women could soon pay a lot more for birth control if the Trump administration follows through with plans to roll back an Obama-era mandate that employer insurance plans include contraception. This is not a test. If the proposed regulation is published, it would go into effect immediately.

According to a leaked document obtained by Vox, all employers would be able to apply for a religious or moral exemption to the mandate; at the moment, only certain religiously affiliated organizations and private businesses have that option.

Contraception is one of eight women's health benefits that is currently considered "essential" under the Affordable Care Act, which means employer insurance plans must cover it at no cost to employees. This means that a wide range of safe and effective forms of birth control have been available to women who might not have been able to afford it before. For example, the most effective forms of contraception are long-acting, like IUDs—but they can cost hundreds of dollars out of pocket. There is no one-size-fits-all-women pill or implant, and forcing women to make health decisions on cost alone is cruel.

Allowing employers to stop covering birth control isn't just unfair because it would leave many women, mostly poor women and women of color, without affordable health care—it's bad science. Studies have shown that increased access to contraception means fewer unplanned pregnancies, which means fewer abortions. And while some anti-abortion activists may believe that some contraceptives are abortifacients, it's simply not true. The Trump administration has already proven itself hostile to well-established scientific facts, and Trump signed an executive order in early May that expanded protections for political speech by religious organizations.

Anne Davis, M.D., consulting medical director of Physicians for Reproductive Health, said, "Contraception works by preventing pregnancy, not by disrupting an established pregnancy. A woman’s health insurance should meet all of her health care needs, including contraception. Employers should not interfere in what is a private decision by withholding insurance coverage.”

It's possible that this leaked document is only one draft of the Trump administration's plan and that the final rule will not go quite as far (this has happened before). But the fact that this regulation exists at all should scare women everywhere: It confirms that the White House doesn't value the right of women to make decisions about their own bodies and futures. While this is hardly surprising—the president is an admitted sexual predator—this is a signal that those who want to restrict women's bodily autonomy won't face the pushback they might have during the past eight years.

“When it comes to attacking women’s basic rights, Donald Trump just can’t help himself," Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily’s List, said in a statement. "Women deserve the right to control when and how to start their families; not employers or Republican politicians.”

When most states are already rolling back reproductive rights and reducing access to affordable care, the possibility that businesses could make such important medicine more expensive is genuinely dystopian.