Now that employers are no longer required to offer birth control under their insurance, many in Pennsylvania are struggling to pay for necessary medical care, writes Ashley Adams for The Keystone. 

In the summer of 2020, the US Supreme Court upheld Trump-era regulations that gave employers the right to deny female workers no-cost coverage for birth based on religious and moral beliefs.

That meant as many as 126,000 women in Pennsylvania lost coverage for free birth control through workplace health plans.

Some women taking birth control pills for non-pregnancy medical reasons suddenly are facing expenses they often can’t afford.

In March 2022, Rep. Leanne Krueger of Delaware County introduced House Bill 2454, expanding access to birth control by requiring insurers in Pennsylvania to provide contraception coverage.

The bill did not make it out of the House Insurance Committee.

“Contraception is health care, and employers should not be allowed to decide what medical care a woman has the right to receive,” Krueger said. “Access to health care is inextricably linked to economic mobility and basic preventative care like birth control should not be a luxury that is only available to some.”

See more about how Pennsylvania women have been affected by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in The Keystone.