Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Orthodox Union Backs Trump Rollback Of Birth Control Mandate

The Orthodox Union on Monday endorsed the Trump administration’s rollback of a rule requiring employers to include coverage for birth control in the health plans they offer their employees.

“The new regulations are good news for all Americans,” said Mark Bane, president of the O.U. board. “Religious freedom is a fundamental right for all, so when it is threatened for some, it is threatened for all.”

The rule gave 55 million women to access to birth control without paying additional costs, the New York Times reported. The rollback will allow employers to decline to provide coverage for birth control.

The leading umbrella group for Modern Orthodox synagogues, the O.U. is currently facing possible schism over women’s leadership roles. Women have only served on the O.U. executive committee since 2014.

“The Trump Administration’s decision to expand the conscience exemptions in the Affordable Care Act is consistent with the long-standing American tradition of trying to avoid infringements upon religion as much as possible,” said the group’s executive director for public policy, Nathan Diament. “The Obama Administration’s refusal to utilize other methods to ensure women’s access to certain healthcare services ignored this sensible approach and stoked unnecessary controversy. The new guidance is a return to the proper balance of valuable concerns.”

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.