The Trump administration on Friday narrowed an Obama-era mandate on contraception coverage, allowing more employers and insurers to exempt themselves from providing such coverage under religious or moral grounds.
Part of the administration's justification for the new policy is that such coverage could increase "risky sexual behavior" among teenagers. From the proposed rule published today in the Federal Register:
"Imposing a coverage Mandate ... could, among some populations, affect risky sexual behavior in a negative way. For example, it may not be a narrowly tailored way to advance the Government interests identified here to mandate contraceptive access to teenagers and young adults who are not already sexually active and at significant risk of unintended pregnancy."
