July 10, 2020

Biden Pledges to Reinstate Obamacare Birth Control and Abortifacient Mandates

Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr
After the Supreme Court took a step towards protecting the conscience rights of employers in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would reinstate Obama-era policies that would require employers to guarantee their employees access to birth control and abortifacients.

“If I am elected I will restore the Obama-Biden policy that existed before the [Supreme Court’s 2014] Hobby Lobby ruling: providing an exemption for houses of worship and an accommodation for nonprofit organizations with religious missions,” said a statement released by the Biden campaign. “This accommodation will allow women at these organizations to access contraceptive coverage, not through their employer-provided plan, but instead through their insurance company or a third-party administrator.”

The Little Sisters of the Poor, despite being a religious charity group, was unable to get an exemption to the Obamacare contraception and abortifacient mandate due to the fact that it does not exclusively employ or serve Catholics. The group has repeatedly stated that simply using a third party to administer abortion and contraception coverage would not stop the practice from violating their beliefs. No pro-life employer should have abortion coverage forced upon their employees.