The Biden administration's proposal to require private insurance agencies to cover certain over-the-counter contraceptives is getting nods of approval from faith-based reproductive rights advocates. But it’s unclear how other religious groups will respond.
“This is welcome news to everyday Americans who need & want affordable health care, all without stigma or delay,” said Elaina Ramsey, executive director of Faith Choice Ohio, in a statement to Sojourners. However, like other advocates, Ramsey framed the move as a single step toward a harshly contested goal. “Expanding access to birth control is a step in the right direction and a moral good — one that extends to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including abortions.”
According to the White House, new rules would require the private insurance companies covering 52 million women of reproductive age to cover emergency contraception, condoms, spermicide, and over the counter birth control pills at no cost to the individual.
Eliminating the barrier created by limiting coverage to prescription birth control expands access significantly, said Katey Zeh, executive director of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. The time and even stigma that can be involved in getting a prescription for birth control creates a real barrier for some people of reproductive age.
“For something that’s super safe for most people, there shouldn’t be so many barriers to accessing it,” Zeh said. “I think it’s a win for both reproductive freedom and religious freedom.”
When people can access multiple forms of contraception, including the relatively new over-the-counter birth control pills, they are free to make decisions that align with their personal faith and family concerns, not just the cost and barriers, she said.
It is unknown how other religious groups, particularly those groups that fought for more religious exemptions to the provisions in the Affordable Care Act requiring health care providers to cover contraception. Several faith-based groups did not reply to Sojourners request for comment on the new rule.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has opposed other efforts to mandate contraceptive coverage, told Sojourners that while it would be “imprudent to comment at length until the actual proposed rule is published … the Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception and on upholding the dignity of life has not changed.”
But despite the Roman Catholic Church’s formal position opposing all forms of contraception, surveys show that nearly all Catholics of reproductive age use or have used contraception, and the vast majority of all Catholics support its legality.
“For us, one of the biggest clarion calls of our faith is that we have to center the needs of the most marginalized,” said Ashley Wilson, strategic communications advisor for Catholics for Choice. “Making birth control and contraception free is one of the biggest ways I’ve seen the Biden administration show a preferential option for the poor.”
Making these health care items accessible has implications beyond family planning as well, Wilson pointed out. Condoms prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infection and birth control is used to treat hormone-sensitive conditions.
In a brief announcing the proposed expansion, the White House stressed that access to contraception has become more important since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Reproductive choice advocates agree that access to contraception is a significant way to reduce the need for abortions, which have become more difficult to obtain since 2022. However, Zeh said, it’s important to note that contraception was not the issue for many of the people who have had catastrophic complications due to the abortion bans in the states where they received obstetric care. Complications arise in planned pregnancies as well, she said, meaning that abortion access is still a necessary component of obstetric medicine.
In a statement, Vice President Kamala Harris nodded to the larger effort to secure the full spectrum of reproductive rights, and the role lawmakers must inevitably play.
“President Biden and I stand with the majority of Americans – Republicans and Democrats alike – who support access to contraception. And we continue to call on Congress to pass federal legislation that restores reproductive freedom nationwide.”
But neither Biden’s proposal nor judicial action on reproductive rights — including both abortion and contraception — would likely secure those rights permanently. Advocates believe congressional action is necessary step to secure long-term access to both abortion rights and contraception.
The new rule, while more expensive than the contraceptive coverage included in other progressive proposals currently before Congress, is also more vulnerable, said Wilson. The rule would not go into effect until 2025, meaning that if Harris does not win the presidential election, expansion may not move forward. A law passed by Congress would be subject to less volatility from who is in the White House.
Bekah McNeel is a freelance journalist living in San Antonio. She reports on the intersection of faith and early childhood for Sojourners.
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