{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/joining-hundreds-of-thousands-of-advocates-and-patients-senate-democrats-demand-trump-administration-reinstate-birth-control-coverage-for-millions-of-women", "Joining Hundreds of Thousands of Advocates and Patients, Senate Democrats Demand Trump Administration Reinstate Birth Control Coverage for Millions of Women", "2017-12-06", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Edward Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Joining Hundreds of Thousands of Advocates and Patients, Senate Democrats Demand Trump Administration Reinstate Birth Control Coverage for Millions of Women \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWednesday, December 6, 2017\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\r\nBack in October, President Trump rolled back birth control mandate under the ACA undermining preventive care for millions of women nationwide\u2014LINK\u00a0\r\nIn new letter, 37 Senate Democrats call on Administration to rescind President Trump\u2019s action allowing employers to roll back health care coverage for women\u00a0\r\nSenate Democrats: \u201cInstead of reversing this significant progress for women \u2013 which it did without appropriate input from the public \u2013 the Trump Administration should reinstate the protections that allow women to control their own health care and economic security.\u201d\r\n(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and 36 senators called on Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Eric Hargan to rescind President Trump\u2019s interim final rules (IFRs) issued on October 13, 2017 enabling employers and universities to interfere with their employees\u2019 and students\u2019 access to preventive health care by allowing them to choose not to cover birth control for religious or moral reasons.\r\nIn the letter, senators highlighted the enormous economic benefit of requiring health plans to cover preventive services, including birth control for women, without out-of-pocket costs.\r\n\u201cThis requirement has helped 62.4 million women have coverage for birth control. As a result, they have been able to make decisions about their reproductive health care that strengthen their economic standing and allow them to decide if and when to start families,\u201d wrote the senators. \u201cThese IFRs also allow employers and insurance companies to once again discriminate against women by requiring them to pay more for the health care they need compared to their male counterparts.\u201d\u00a0\r\nThe senators also noted that repealing the birth control mandate goes against the original intentions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which created explicit provisions to guarantee women access to preventive services.\u00a0\r\n\u201cCongress specifically included the Women\u2019s Health Amendment in the ACA to ensure that the legislation would end the \u201cpunitive practices of insurances companies that charge women more and give [them] less in a benefit\u201d by guaranteeing women access to preventive services,\u201d said senators. \u201cThe IFRs fail to recognize this clear congressional intent to place medical experts\u2019 recommendations over political ideology.\u201d\r\nIn addition to Senator Murray, the letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Christopher S. Murphy (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jon Tester (D-MT), Jeff A. Merkley (D-OR), and Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA).\u00a0\r\nFull text of letter can be found HERE:", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/joining-hundreds-of-thousands-of-advocates-and-patients-senate-democrats-demand-trump-administration-reinstate-birth-control-coverage-for-millions-of-women"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5277808997780085, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}