Biden administration withdraws proposed rules to expand access to birth control

The Biden administration has scrapped proposed rules to expand birth control access and make it harder for employers to not cover contraception in health plans.

The decision was announced late Monday in the Federal Register, according to The Hill newspaper. 

The Department of Health and Human Services said the decision was made so the agency could focus its time and resources "on matters other than finalizing these rules." 

The rules were proposed last year, but the agency said it wanted to balance the coverage of contraception with some employers not wanting to provide it for religious reasons.

There is a current ruling from the Trump administration that allows "non-religious moral objections” to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to cover certain birth control methods.

The Biden administration said that proposed rules that it pushed back on Monday would have allowed religious organizations to get free contraceptive services.

“Ensuring access to contraception at no cost is a national public health imperative,” HHS said in a statement.