Notre Dame faculty and staff will not lose birth control coverage at the end of the calendar year, the university announced in an email Tuesday morning, reversing its late-October decision to eliminate contraceptive coverage from employee health plans.

The insurance company through which Notre Dame employees are insured, Meritain Health/OptumRx, now says they will continue to offer a separate insurance plan with contraceptive coverage with no copay. Notre Dame -- a prominent, Catholic university in South Bend, Indiana -- said in the email it recognizes employees have diverse beliefs and will not interfere with the coverage, though the coverage will not be paid for by the university.

The announcement is an about-face for the university, which made national headlines as the first employer to drop contraceptive coverage following the Trump administration's rule making it easier for employers to obtain an exemption from the Affordable Care Act's mandate requiring them to provide birth control with no copay.

The university has opposed the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate on the grounds of religious freedom and sued the Obama administration for the right to not offer coverage. The university started providing no-cost contraceptive coverage in 2013 under a compromise with the federal government that allowed religious objectors to opt-out of paying for the coverage. The cost was shouldered by insurance companies and the federal government.