LOS ANGELES, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon against the federal government's Interim Final Rules issued in the morning allowing employers to interfere with birth control insurance for employees.
In the 19-page-indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Becerra listed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Treasure and their Secretaries as co-defendants, claiming the directives issued through them are unconstitutional.
The U.S. government's new policy allows employers to stop providing contraception coverage for their employees by citing religious or moral objections, but the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, which took effect in 2014, ensured that a woman had coverage for birth control even if her religious employer objected to contraception.
The lawsuit said the new rules of the Trump administration violates the First Amendment by allowing employers to use religious beliefs as a right to discriminate against employees to deny them a "federally entitled benefit" under Obamacare.
Meanwhile, it violates the Fifth Amendment by specifically targeting women and denying their rights to equal protection under the law, the indictment said.
According to the document, 62 million women across the country have benefited from these reproductive health services and saved them 1.4 billion U.S. dollars.
"Donald Trump wants businesses and corporations to control family planning decisions rather than a woman in consultation with her doctor. These anti-women's health regulations prove once again that the Trump Administration is willing to trample on people's rights," a statement issued by California Attorney General's office said.
Sacramento Bee newspaper reported that most Californians would not be affected by the new rules as health plans regulated by the state are required by state law to cover contraceptive coverage, but 6 to 7 million employees who work for privately insured companies could potentially lose birth control coverage because their plans are regulated by the federal government.
It is not the first time that California filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration's decision. On Sept. 20, the state filed a lawsuit against Washington's plan to build a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico.
