The senators suggested the administration could add the OTC pill “to an existing coverage requirement and/or formulary” and “eliminate any otherwise-required cost-sharing and prior authorization for OTC contraceptives,” among other approaches.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly refers to contraception as a “morally unacceptable” form of birth regulation, stating that “every action” that “proposes … to render procreation impossible” is “intrinsically evil.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in July of this year condemned the FDA’s approval of the OTC pill, with Winona–Rochester Bishop Robert Barron stating that the pill’s over-the-counter approval “violates the Hippocratic Oath by putting the health of women at grave risk.”
“This action by a government entity flies in the face of responsible medical practice and concerns for women’s health,” Barron said at the time. He pointed to the “strong evidence of the many harmful risks of hormonal contraception to women’s health.”
Contraception coverage has been a contentious part of U.S. health care policy for years. Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration mandated broad coverage of contraceptives in health insurance plans, including for policyholders who object to birth control on religious or moral grounds.
In 2020, the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic religious institute organization, won a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court affirming the legality of a “moral exemption” to the coverage that had been asserted by the Trump administration.
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