Candelaria Reardon worried about health and financial consequences Hoosier women could face as U.S. Supreme Court takes on new birth control case

INDIANAPOLIS – State Representative Mara Candelaria Reardon (D-Munster) expressed concern after the Supreme Court of the United States began hearing arguments in Trump v. Pennsylvania and Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania as a consolidated case.

The two cases combined will determine whether employers and universities can deny insurance coverage of contraceptives on the basis of moral or religious objections, and undermine the birth control benefit of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

“Where someone works or where someone attends school should not determine whether or not they have access to birth control,” Candelaria Reardon said. “Quality, affordable contraception shouldn't be controversial or up for debate in the year of 2020.

“Nearly nine in 10 women of reproductive age have used contraception at one point, including countless Hoosiers. It's my fear that this Supreme Court decision could potentially leave thousands of women across our state in a dire financial or health situation. Without access to contraception from employers, women will have to seek alternative ways to get coverage or pay high out of pocket costs.”

Approximately 62 million women have benefited from the birth control provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Before the legislation, contraception totaled 30% of women's out of pocket health care costs.

“Birth control is an essential component of health care,” Candelaria Reardon said. “It not only allows for planning and spacing of pregnancies, but it's a tool of empowerment that lets women decide what their future will hold. Freedom of religion cannot come at the expense of women's health care.”