All New Yorkers should have the right to decide when and whether to have a child and access to contraceptives are a critical piece of that right. The NYCLU supported the passage of the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act (CCCA) in 2019, to protect New Yorkers’ reproductive health, dignity and rights. CCCA amended New York’s insurance law to provide coverage of contraception, improved the range of birth control options, and enabled patients to fill twelve months of a prescription.

Still, many New Yorkers are denied the right to adequate and affordable reproductive care due to religious exemptions. New Yorkers’ access to contraception must not be dependent on the whims or religious beliefs of their private employer or insurance agency.