Udall: U.S. Supreme Court Wrong to Insert Colorado Women's Bosses Into Their Private Health Decision

Udall Vows to Continue Fighting to Protect Women's Private Health Decisions, Common-Sense Access to Birth Control


Sen. Mark Udall, a champion for Colorado women's access to affordable health care, decried the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today to allow some employers to refuse to cover contraception as part of employees' health insurance policies. The court's decision undermines a critical part of the Affordable Care Act, which provides women access to free and common-sense preventive health services, including birth control.

"A woman's personal health decisions about choosing to use contraception and when to start a family should stay strictly between her and her doctor — not her boss," Udall said. "The U.S. Supreme Court's decision unacceptably takes these choices out of doctors' offices and into the workplace. Our laws should empower Colorado women to make their own decisions based on their own beliefs, not the beliefs of the person signing their paycheck."

Udall has been an unwavering advocate for Colorado's women. For example, Udall has fought to expand access to preventive health care services for women and has championed women's rights to make their own health care decisions.

"Today's decision also underscores why I have fought to confirm mainstream U.S. Supreme Court justices such as Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan," Udall added. "I am committed to continuing to fight to ensure that the president fills any vacancies with justices whose judicial philosophy and approach to the law reflects Coloradans' values of privacy, equality and access to opportunity."

http://www.markudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=4354