The administration of US President Joe Biden announced on Monday a plan to provide free access to over-the-counter contraceptives, which will require insurers to offer this benefit to their clients under the Affordable Health Care Act, better known as ‘Obamacare’.
“Since Roe v. Wade was overturned more than two years ago, Republican elected officials have made it clear that they want to ban or restrict birth control, stop funding federal programs that help women access contraception, and repeal the Affordable Care Act,” the White House said in relation to the historic court ruling that recognized for the first time women’s right to unrestricted abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy and was however overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022.
“Congressional Republicans have repeatedly blocked federal legislation to safeguard the fundamental right to contraception for women in all states,” the text states, which calls this “unacceptable.”
In this sense, the Administration has pointed out that “it is taking an important step to expand contraception coverage under this law” and has clarified that it is a measure that “would help ensure that millions of women with private health insurance can access the free contraceptives they need.”
“Vice President (Kamala) Harris and I have worked tirelessly to protect and develop the law. We have reduced the costs of market coverage by an average of $800 per year for millions of Americans, and more Americans than ever have signed up for insurance through the law,” she stressed.
That is why she stressed that the Government has decided to “expand access to affordable, quality contraception” at a time when this measure “is under attack.”
“We believe that women in all states should be free to make very personal decisions about their health, including the right to decide if and when they want to start a family. We will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and ask Congress to restore reproductive freedom and safeguard the right to contraception once and for all,” she concluded.
