Women Reveal How Trump's Birth Control Order Will Really Affect Them

The Trump administration announced Friday it was narrowing the scope of an Obama-era mandate requiring employer-provided health insurance policies to include access to free birth control in a move that could impact many women's access to affordable contraception. Under new rules rolled out by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration expanded exemptions, enabling employers to refuse to cover birth control by citing religious or moral objections. News of the new rules have outraged women and women's rights advocates, many of whom took to Twitter on Friday to demand the Trump administration keep its hands off birth control.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, nonprofits, private businesses, and publicly traded companies will now be able cite religious or moral objections to providing contraceptives, which will get them out of offering them at no cost to employees in employer-provided insurance policies. Previously, under the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration required employer-provided health insurance policies to cover at least one form of contraception in each of the 18 categories of birth control identified by the Food and Drug Administration to women at no cost.

Those categories included sterilization surgery, surgical sterilization implants, implantable rods, copper IUDs, IUDs with progestin, the shot or injection, the patch, the ring, diaphragms, sponges, cervical caps, spermicide, female condoms, extended or continuous use oral contraceptives, and emergency contraception such as Plan B, Plan B One-Step, and Ella.

The new rule could jeopardize hundreds of thousands of women's access to no-cost birth control despite claims by Health and Human Services officials that "99.9 percent of women" will not have their access cut.

Here are how several people are telling the Trump administration to keep its #HandsOffMyBC:

1. Birth Control Isn't Just A Woman's Issue, It's A Family Issue

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Communications Manager Gabriel Mann pointed out that the high cost of birth control can also impact couples and families living within a budget.

2. It's About Access To Basic Care

As Twitter user Allison Phipps noted, many women use birth control for medical reasons, such as treating or preventing endometriosis.

3. My Body, My Choice

Some Twitter users spoke about how their access to birth control had saved them from unimaginable situations.

4. Regulation Priorities

One Twitter user questioned whether to government had its priorities straight.

5. There Will Be Consequences

Another Twitter user noted that easy access to affordable and effective contraception was a key method for reducing abortion rates.

6. I Take Birth Control To Regulate My Period

For some women, birth control is about more than just protecting against unwanted pregnancies. It's also a means of regulating their periods.

7. Are We Living The Prequel To The Handmaid's Tale?

One Twitter user likened the recent actions of Republican legislators and the Trump administration to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

8. Women In New York Will Continue To Have Cost-Free Access

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo vowed to protect women's access to cost-free reproductive health care in his state no matter what happened at the federal level.

9. Hospitalized With Heavy Periods

One incensed Twitter user shared her experience with needing birth control to help regulate her period, which was so heavy she was hospitalized as a preteen.

10. Birth Control Can Cost Up To $1,000

NARAL Pro-Choice America tweeted about how high the out-of-pocket cost of birth control can be for low-income women.

11. The Freedom To Live And Plan Our Lives With Dignity

The Human Rights Campaign showed their support for no-cost birth control, noting that "we all deserve to have the freedom to live and plan our lives with dignity" in a tweet published Friday.

12. Is Birth Control A Luxury Item?

One Twitter user pointed out how ludicrous it seemed that the president and other government officials' travel could be covered by taxpayers but birth control was the problem.

13. That Friday Feeling

When your Friday feeling is outrage and disgust over Republican's efforts to roll back women's bodily autonomy.

14. Moving Down A Slippery Slope

For Twitter user Alexandra Nugent, the Trump administration's new rules seemed to be the beginning of a slippery slope. If employers can deny one health care service, would they soon move to deny others?

15. Women's Rights Are Human Rights

What you do in regards to your body and reproductive health shouldn't depend on how large your paycheck is, one Twitter user argued.

16. Viagra Doesn't Save Lives

One Twitter user pointed out the importance of birth control for treating things like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, which can lead to Ovarian cancer.

17. Everyone Deserves Access

Every woman deserves to have access to a birth control method that works for their body and life, one Twitter user argued under the hashtag.

18. I Choose What I Put In My Body

As one Twitter user noted, it's women who should get to decide what goes into their bodies, and they shouldn't have to jump through hoops for their health care.

19. Get That Degree

One Twitter user found a special kind of inspiration in the #HandsOffMyBC hashtag.

20. Let Me At 'Em

The Trump administration's decision to roll back the Obamacare birth control mandate had some Twitter users angry at those who'd voted for the lawmakers standing behind such policies.

21. Leave Me Alone

Some questioned why one person's religious liberty felt a bit like another person's discrimination.

22. Reducing Access To Birth Control Is A Health Risk

Given the variety of reasons women seek out birth control, reducing access to affordable contraception could very well be seen as putting women's health at risk.

23. Does This Government Care About Women?

All signs point to no.

24. I Feel Like We've Said This Before

Twitter user Sam Sandmire used the hashtag to share a picture of herself advocating for access to free contraception and Planned Parenthood.

25. Who'll Maintain Access To Birth Control

Is FLOTUS on birth control? Is it covered by her insurance?

26. You May Be On To Something There

Critics of the Trump administration's decision to roll back the Obamacare contraception mandate have characterized the move as discrimination against women.

27. If POTUS Cared About The Constitution...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused President Donald Trump of trampling "on a woman's right to health care."

28. There's A Reason For Chicago's Low Teen Birth Rate

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel also criticized the Trump administration's decision to open the door for employers to reduce access to birth control, saying that "rolling back birth control coverage hurts everyone."

29. Why Is This Still Up For Debate?

Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky questioned by access to affordable birth control was still an issue up for debate given its significance in women's rights.

In opening the door for more employers to cite religious beliefs as justification for removing contraception coverage from their health insurance policies, the Trump administration could potentially place birth control out of reach for hundreds of thousands of women who may have struggled to afford it prior to the Obamacare mandate.