Washington state Democrats plan on introducing legislation next year that will counteract the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling, which allowed some employers to opt out of providing contraception coverage for employees.
Senate Democrats on Thursday said that the legislation would ensure that all women have access to health insurance with birth control coverage, the News Tribune reported.
The measure would make sure “barrier-free access to birth control remains a fundamental right,” according to a statement from the group of lawmakers. A group of state senators, along with Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced support for the measure.
Sen. Karen Keiser (D) said that the bill would make clear that the Hobby Lobby ruling violates the state’s anti-discrimination law.
“We’re not really addressing the insurance issue in this, but we are addressing the issue of discrimination against women,” Keiser said, according to the News Tribune. “The Hobby Lobby decision affects one class of people, one group, and all of them have female as their gender.”
In the Thursday statement, Democrats said that they would need to gain control of the state senate in order to pass the bill and warned that if Republicans win the majority, “it is unlikely that any progress on ensuring individual reproductive choices will be achieved.”
