Contraceptive coverage.WASHINGTON, D.C.--In a decision that could have wider implications, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC EEOC abbr. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC n abbr (US) (= Equal Employment Opportunities Commission) → comisión que investiga discriminación racial o sexual en el empleo ) has ruled that it is illegal for health plans to exclude coverage of contraception, Catholic News Service reports. The Dec. 13 EEOC ruling could impact efforts in California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). , and elsewhere to mandate coverage of contraception by all health insurers. Those movements have been opposed by Catholic employers arguing for a conscience-clause exemption. The EEOC said denial of contraceptive coverage violates the Pregnancy Discrimination  This article or section may deal primarily with the U.S. and may not present a worldwide view. Act of 1978, which prohibited discrimination against women based on the "whole range of matters concerning the childbearing child·bear·ingn. Pregnancy and parturition. child  bear ing adj. process." The case involved two nurses who filed suit against their employer. In its ruling, the EEOC said employers "may not discriminate in their health insurance plan by denying benefits for prescription contraceptives when they provide benefits for comparable drugs and devices." The plan under which the two nurses were insured covered such things as vaccinations, weight-loss drugs, preventive dental care, surgical sterilizations surgical sterilization Mechanical sterilization Gynecology Sterilization that prevents passage of a fertilized egg to the uterus, or of sperm meeting egg; the more common form of SS is tubal ligation, but vasectomy is not uncommon. See Tubal ligation, Vasectomy. , and Viagra. |
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