News and Stories: Facts About the Birth Control Coverage Benefit

• Birth control is necessary, preventive health care. It saves lives, helps prevent unintended pregnancies, improves outcomes for children and reduces the incidence of abortion.

• With the Obama Administration's new birth control benefit,women will soon have access to contraception coverage, with no costly co-pays and no additional hurdles, no matter where they work.

• With a recent change to the benefit, if a religious institution declines to provide coverage that includes contraceptive services, the insurance company will be required to reach out directly and offer women contraceptive coverage free of charge.

• This new preventive care benefit was recommended by the Institute of Medicine because birth controlis fundamental to improving women’s health and the health of their families.

• It does not require that anyone dispense or use birth control. It simply ensures that women have adequate health insurance coverage that includes affordable birth control.

• Catholic women use birth control in the same proportions as all other women - 98 percent of Catholics who are sexually active have used birth control at some point.

• A new recent Public Policy Polling survey shows that 56 percent of voters support the birth control coverage benefit, including 53 percent of Catholic voters.