Women's Rights Employment Law Blog

As many as 26 states have not yet mandated that employers cover contraception when other prescriptions drugs are covered. Whereas this has led to more unwanted pregnancies, with spiraling rise in pregnancy discrimination cases, women employees could not have a worse catch-22 situation.

This should sound alarming if the trends of unwanted pregnancies and their intersections with socio-economic class are analyzed.

A recent research study conducted by Rachel Benson Gold titled, "Rekindling Efforts to Prevent Unplanned Pregnancy: A Matter of ‘Equity and Common Sense’" and published in the Summer 2006 issue of the Guttmacher Policy Review advocates ways to help low-income American women prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The decline in the U.S. abortion rate, especially steep during the early 1990s, has slowed to a crawl. Abortion rate per 1,000 women 15–44. Source: Guttmacher Institute, 2006.

Compared with higher-income women, poor women are four times as likely to have an unplanned pregnancy, three times as likely to have an abortion and five times as likely to have an unplanned birth.
Source: Guttmacher Institute, 2006.

Medicaid coverage for contraception would enable low-income women to prevent a total of nearly 500,000 unwanted pregnancies annually, including 200,000 abortions. By helping them to prevent an estimated 225,000 unwanted births, such an expansion would also save $1.5 billion in annual federal and state expenditures.

In addition, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, contraception is a medical necessity for three decades of a woman's lifespan. When a health care plan excludes contraception coverage, women must bear the costs out of their pocket. And with almost half of all pregnancies being unintended, it is necessary that state administrations prioritize accordingly.

Recently, Michigan Civil Rights Commission has ruled that businesses that offer comprehensive prescription coverage but fail to cover birth control are violating the state's civil rights act and could be forced to change their policies. Those employers are discriminating against women by failing to pay for birth control, while studies show that most women will use it in their lifetimes and it costs employers just about $1.43 a month per employee.