Congresswoman Chellie Pingree Welcomes President's Announcement on No-Cost Contraceptive Coverage

Statement

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said today she was pleased that President Obama is supporting regulations that will give women access to no-cost contraceptive coverage.

"The compromise the President announced today means women of all faiths will have access to no-cost birth control coverage, no matter where they work--including the hundreds of thousands of women who work at religious-affiliated institutions around the country," Pingree said. "Birth control is a matter of individual choice and all women should be able to make their own decision about using it."

Yesterday, Pingree urged the Obama Administration not to back down from a decision to require nearly all employers to provide no-cost birth control coverage for their employees. Originally, the rules allowed an exception only for religious organizations like churches. Under the rules announced today, otherreligious-affiliated institutions can also decline to provide contraceptivecoverage, but in those cases the insurance companies providing the health care will have to provide the birth control coverage separately, but at no additional cost to the employee.

"This is a good compromise that serves the public health," Pingree said. "If a religious-affiliated organization like a hospital or university doesn't want to provide birth control coverage, they can take themselves out of the equation, but the insurance company will have to step in to make sure women still have access to no-cost coverage."

Source