SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amended complaint and a motion for preliminary injunction in federal court in State of California, et al v. Alex Azar, II, et al.

The filing moves to block the Trump Administration’s new final rules that would deny millions of women and their families access to cost-free birth control by allowing employers to interfere with their healthcare decisions.

The final rules, which are set to go into effect on January 14, 2019, would jeopardize the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employers provide coverage of all 18 FDA-approved birth control methods and counseling for employees and their covered dependents with no out-of-pocket costs.

To date, 62 million women across the country have benefited from these reproductive health services, including over seven million in California.

“We successfully fought the Trump Administration’s interim final rules because employers have no business interfering in women’s healthcare decisions. But the Trump Administration is continuing to trample on women’s rights and access to care with this illegal final rule,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Women across the country have benefitted from the ACA’s cost-free birth control. California will continue the fight against any actions that attempt to restrict women’s access to affordable, quality healthcare.”

Attorney General Becerra filed the amended complaint and motion for preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

This action builds on Attorney General Becerra’s successful opposition to the Trump Administration’s interim final rules.

On Dec. 21, 2017, California secured a nationwide preliminary injunction halting the implementation of the interim final rules.

On Dec. 13, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the lower court’s ruling.

In filing the amended complaint and motion for preliminary injunction, Attorney General Becerra is joined by the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the filing can be found here.