A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from implementing a rule that will dramatically curb women’s access to birth control.
U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone found that a lawsuit brought by Pennsylvania’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro, which alleges the administration ignored proper procedure when it announced the rule change, would likely succeed.
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Under the Affordable Care Act, employers must offer free coverage for birth control — only certain religious organizations, such as houses of worship, could ask for an exemption. That mandate guaranteed more than 55 million women access to birth control.
But in October, the Trump administration decided to roll back that requirement. Instead, the administration wanted to let nearly any type of employer ask for an exemption, as long as they claimed they had a “moral” objection to the rule.
Several other states have also sued the administration over the rule change, including California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, and Virginia.
