In early July, the U. S. Supreme Court upheld a Trump Administration rule that allows virtually any employer in the country to claim a religious or moral exemption in order to opt out of having to provide birth control coverage for employees. Every lower court to decide this issue found that the White House did not have authority to issue these harmful rules, which also apply to universities. It’s an extremely disappointing decision that undermines what Congress intended when it adopted the Affordable Care Act a decade ago. Congress meant for birth control to be provided at no cost under most health care plans. That coverage was a game-changer for people across the country. The Supreme Court’s decision creates the potential for a lot of people to lose this critical coverage.

The Trump Administration has been public and bold about its desire to restrict access to reproductive health care across the country. The political agenda it endorses is also behind the attacks we have seen on other reproductive health care, including the attempt to limit abortion care that was at issue in the June Medical Services case that the Supreme Court also recently decided.

In the current circumstances - with COVID-19 continuing to spread across the country and many people suffering the economic consequences - this is the time to expand health care, not find reasons to restrict it. And we know by looking at the statistics that this decision will disproportionately affect low wage workers and people of color. In Illinois, we do have a state law that still requires coverage under some plans. But there are still groups of people who stand to lose coverage as a result of this decision in this State. Unfortunately, those are the people who are already struggling to make ends meet.

This is why we recently held an emergency virtual town hall on the issue – you can watch that town hall in full here.

Religious freedom should not be used as a license to discriminate. Someone’s ability to decide what birth control to use and access it should not depend on their boss’s religious beliefs. The ACLU will continue to fight in the courts to ensure people have access to essential birth control in Illinois and beyond.
 

The below statement can be attributed to Karen Sheley, Police Practices Project Director, ACLU of Illinois:

"It is incredulous that the Chicago Police Department has chosen this moment – a time when people are re-thinking our fundamental notions about policing and how we police our City – to reduce transparency into the activities of officers by taking down critical arrest data. Policing in Chicago can no longer be an insular, unaccountable force. This behavior only drives a further wedge between CPD and Black and Brown communities across the City. 
 
Holding the Department and individual officers accountable for their actions on the streets of Chicago requires comprehensive data is available to journalists, academics and the public. Arrest data is fundamental to any meaningful analysis and public input. That the City has pulled down this data because of criticism and questions raised in the media is both silly and shameful. This data must be restored to public view." 

The below statement can be attributed to Heidi Dalenberg, Director of the Institutional Reform Project, ACLU of Illinois:

“While we always knew that the State ultimately would move children into a managed care plan for their health care, we remained concerned about the process and the timing in the midst of a pandemic. But now, we must focus on the most critical issues: Assuring that children, as well as their parents and foster parents, are able to access the life-saving health care the children require. 

We will continue to work with DCFS on this serious change for youth in care in hopes of assuring that the transition is as smooth and safe as possible for all impacted families. As we continue those discussions with the State, we encourage parents and foster parents to contact us if they are concerned that the transition to the managed care system will disrupt their child’s necessary medical care, or if they experience any barriers to getting children medical care after September 1st.”