AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT: CAP Experts on No-Cost Contraception Coverage

February 9, 2012

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Contact: Anne Shoup
Phone: 202.481.7146
Email: ashoup@americanprogress.org

Washington, D.C. — CAP experts are available to comment on the continuing debate over the Obama administration’s decision to require employers, including religious institutions, to offer health plans that cover contraception. The following key facts and related resources illustrate why the administration’s decision is a tremendous victory for women’s health and why the decision should be upheld.

Key facts:

• Twenty-eight states already mandate contraception coverage.
• The president’s plan would exempt 335,000 churches and religious institutions from covering contraception.
• Polls show that majorities of Americans, including Catholics, favor requiring no-cost access to contraception.
• A rule has been in place since 2000 mandating that insurance companies who offer prescription coverage also cover contraception—with no exemption for religious institutions. The president’s plan provides for sufficient religious exemptions.

The following CAP experts are available for comment:

• Tara McGuinness, SVP for Communications
• Jessica Arons, Director of the Women’s Health and Rights Program
• Sally Steenland, Director of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative
• Alice Chen, M.D., Executive Director of Doctors for America

Related posts from ThinkProgress.org:

• Catholic Bishops Demand All Businesses Be Given The Right To Deny Women Contraception Coverage
• Six Republican Senators – Including Snowe And Collins – Co-Sponsored Federal Contraception Mandate in 2001
• Nation’s Largest Catholic University: We Offer ‘A Prescription Contraceptive Benefit’
• Over 600 Physicians, including 70 Catholics, Speak Out in Favor of HHS Contraception Ruling (Doctors for America)

To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:

Print: Katie Peters at kpeters@americanprogress.org or 202.741.6285.

TV: Lindsay Hamilton at lhamilton@americanprogress.org or 202.483.2675

Radio: Anne Shoup at ashoup@americanprogress.org or 202.481.7146.

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