ACOG Opposes the Administration’s Final Regulation That Reduces Access to Contraception

Washington, DC—Lisa Hollier, M.D., M.P.H., president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, issued the following statement regarding release of the Trump administration’s final rules, the Religious Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act and the Moral Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act, that will limit contraception access for countless women:

“The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) strongly objects to the administration’s decision to implement the final rules, the Religious Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act and the Moral Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act, that continue an alarming trend of reducing access to contraception. These rules threaten to erode decades of progress in increasing women’s reproductive autonomy. As the nation’s largest professional organization for women’s health care physicians, ACOG recognizes contraception as an integral component of women’s health care and opposes any policy that seeks to restrict or eliminate women’s meaningful access to the full range of contraceptive methods.

“Women, families and our nation all benefit from seamless, affordable access to contraception. Contraception improves women’s health and well-being, reduces unintended pregnancy, enables pregnancy spacing for safer pregnancies and deliveries, and empowers women’s engagement in the workforce and economic self-sufficiency. A woman’s employer should not determine whether or not she has this access. The final rules are contrary to the recommendations of ACOG and the broader medical community.

“The final rules follow an alarming pattern of medically unnecessary decisions in women’s health policy that, together, undermine women’s access to care and advance harmful, medically inaccurate rhetoric about women’s health.

“Health policy should be rooted in evidence and improve health outcomes for the populations it addresses. These rules fail to do both and instead turn back the clock on women’s health. ACOG urges the administration to immediately withdraw these rules and support affordable and comprehensive access to contraception for every woman.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is the nation’s leading group of physicians providing health care for women. As a private, voluntary, nonprofit membership organization of more than 58,000 members, ACOG strongly advocates for quality health care for women, maintains the highest standards of clinical practice and continuing education of its members, promotes patient education, and increases awareness among its members and the public of the changing issues facing women’s health care. www.acog.org