Planned Parenthood Responds to Court Ruling in Favor of Anti-Birth Control CEO
For Immediate Release: Jan. 30, 2014
NEW YORK – Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards released the following statement responding to the news that Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan has been granted a temporary court order allowing him to continue denying his employees access to no-cost birth control:
“All women, no matter where they live or who their boss is, should have access to basic preventive health care, including birth control. This is a decision for women, not their bosses, to make. We’re disappointed by this court ruling, and we hope it won’t stand. Corporate CEOs like Tom Monaghan don’t have to take birth control, and they don’t have to pay for it — but they can’t decide whether women who work for them are able to have birth control like any other prescription. When women have access to affordable birth control, they benefit, their families benefit, and we all benefit.”
Domino’s Farms owner Tom Monaghan is one of several for-profit company CEOs suing to deny their employees access to no-cost birth control as required by the Affordable Care Act. Access to no co-pay birth control has significant health and economic benefits, with women spending up to $600 a year on birth control. The cost of birth control for individuals each year is the equivalent of five weeks of groceries for a family of four, nine tanks of gas in a minivan, or one semester of college textbooks.
The provision of the no co-pay birth control benefit of the Affordable Care includes exemptions for religious organizations. These bosses are merely trying to make decisions for their employees that should be left to the employee.
Last month, Planned Parenthood Federation of America launched the “Birth Control: We All Benefit” campaign to remind Americans and their elected representatives that we all benefit when women have access to affordable birth control. Millions of Americans stand to benefit from the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit, which went into effect in August in some plans and makes birth control available without co-pays or deductibles.
BACKGROUND
- Access to birth control is not just a health issue, it’s an economic issue. A 2010 survey found that more than a third of female voters have struggled to afford prescription birth control at some point in their lives, and as a result, used birth control inconsistently. This isn’t surprising considering co-pays for birth control pills typically range between $15 and $50 per month — up to $600 per year. Other methods, such as IUDs, can cost several hundred dollars, even with health insurance.
- A 2012 report from the Guttmacher Institute confirmed that women use contraception to better achieve their life goals, with the majority of participants reporting that contraception has had a significant impact on their lives, allowing them to take better care of themselves or their families (63 percent), support themselves financially (56 percent), complete their education (51 percent), or keep or get a job (50 percent). Other reasons for using contraception, reported by a majority of respondents, include not being ready to have children (63 percent), feeling that using birth control gives them better control over their lives (60 percent), and wanting to wait until their lives are more stable to have a baby (60 percent).
Source
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Contact
Planned Parenthood Federation of America media office: 212-261-4433
Published
March 15, 2013
Updated
July 25, 2016