"The value of family planning, including contraception, has been clearly demonstrated for decades," said Dr. Lawrence of ACOG. It gives women the ability to prevent unintended pregnancy and to time and space pregnancies, and it helps to reduce fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality, he said.
Dr. Lawrence noted that Hobby Lobby and Conestoga were characterizing emergency contraception as abortion methods. "The best scientific evidence shows that emergency contraception works by inhibiting ovulation," he said. "This is contraception, not abortion."
Doctor-patient relationship
If the court upholds the companies’ objection to counseling, that also could open the door to a wide range of restrictions on what physicians can talk to their patients about.
"Your employer would be telling your doctor what you can and can’t talk about," said Adam Sonfield, a senior public policy associate with the Guttmacher Institute. "That would be a clear violation of the rights of the patient ... and could even be considered malpractice."
Dr. Lawrence said that "to not be able to educate patients about their bodies is anathema to women’s health care."
Decisions about a woman’s needs and her health should be between her and her doctor and "should not include input from a woman’s boss," he added.
That sentiment was echoed by ACOG and other medical groups in their brief. They said that "important, private medical decisions should be made by a patient in consultation with her health care provider. There is no role for a woman’s employer in these decisions."
Predictions on ruling?
The Supreme Court could make its ruling any time between March 25 and the end of its current term in late June. Legal experts at the Kaiser Family Foundation and National Health Law Program said they did not expect a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood.
Should the court support the companies’ arguments, however, many state laws require contraceptive equity, said Susan Berke Fogel, director of Reproductive Health at the National Health Law Program.
Mr. Sonfeld of the Guttmacher Institute also noted that 28 states require employers to cover the full range of FDA-approved contraceptives.
On Twitter @aliciaault