Trump admin narrows Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate

The new regulation, issued by the Health and Human Services Department, allows a much broader group of employers and insurers to exempt themselves from covering contraceptives such as birth control pills on religious or moral grounds. The decision, anticipated from the Trump administration for months, is the latest twist in a seesawing legal and ideological fight that has surrounded this aspect of the 2010 health-care law nearly from the start. Several religious groups, which battled the Obama administration for years over the controversial requirement, welcomed the action. Women's rights organizations and some medical professionals portrayed it as a blow to women's health, warning that it could lead to a higher number of unintended pregnancies.

The rule change is among the recent moves by President Trump to dismantle initiatives enacted under the Obama administration. It fulfills a crucial promise Trump made as a candidate to appeal to social conservatives and that he repeated in May when he signed an executive order in the Rose Garden to expand religious liberty. Senior Health and Human Services officials, briefing reporters early on condition of anonymity, contended the change will still leave "99.9 percent of women" with access to free birth control through their insurance. They said the estimate was based on the finite number of groups.