California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The brief supports Pennsylvania and New Jersey in their lawsuit challenging federal regulations from the Trump Administration that allow employers to limit access to no-cost contraception under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The challenged rules, issued in 2017 and 2018, expanded religious exemptions and introduced moral exemptions for employers, enabling them to remove guaranteed coverage for birth control and related services from employee healthcare plans. California led a separate challenge against these regulations, which is still pending before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The Biden Administration had stayed enforcement of these regulations while new rulemaking was considered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with Attorney General Bonta expressing support for this review.
Attorney General Bonta stated: “Decisions about using birth control should be made by women and their doctors — not dictated by their bosses. California has long embraced that principle, and we have no intention of backing down. My fellow attorneys general and I are urging the Third Circuit to affirm the lower court’s decision that struck down the Trump Administration’s unlawful regulations.”
According to data cited in the brief, over 80% of women ages 18 to 49 reported using some form of contraception in the past year. The average annual cost per user is $584, and if these regulations remain in effect, individuals could bear an additional $73.8 million in costs for contraceptive care.
The coalition argues that these rules threaten contraceptive coverage for hundreds of thousands of women, impacting both individual health outcomes and broader public health considerations within states. States may face increased financial burdens as they provide replacement contraceptive services through state-funded programs.
The brief also highlights that people of color and those with low incomes are more likely to live in areas lacking full access to contraceptive care—so-called “contraceptive deserts”—and asserts that maintaining these federal rules would worsen existing disparities based on race, gender, and income.
Attorney General Bonta was joined by counterparts from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
Rob Bonta leads the California Attorney General’s office, which serves as California’s chief law enforcement authority across the state. The office focuses on enforcing state laws; protecting public rights; advancing civil rights; promoting consumer protection; ensuring economic security; supporting environmental justice; encouraging transparency through initiatives like OpenJustice; and shaping informed public policy as part of California’s executive branch.
