Colorado's AG-Elect Phil Weiser Says He Will Sue To Protect Women's Access To Birth Control
By Shaun Boyd
DENVER (CBS4)- Colorado's newly elected Attorney General Phil Weiser is already making good on a campaign promise to serve as a check on the Trump Administration.
"When the federal government does things that are illegal and hurts Coloradans, I'm going to be a lawyer for the people of Colorado," said Weiser.
He plans to join other Democratic AGs in suing the federal government, after the White House announced new rules that roll back a provision of Obamacare.
The law mandates employers cover birth control unless they're religiously affiliated. The new rules allow employers to deny coverage if they have a moral objection.
"The Trump administration decided to create something out of whole cloth. It wasn't based in law. It was a threat to the rule of law that they would make up this moral objection; a moral objection that would give any employer the right to say, 'I'm not going to cover birth control.' The attack on birth control goes against any sense of common sense. If people don't want abortions, we should be making access to birth control easier." says Weiser.
The Trump administration is also making abortion coverage more difficult by requiring private insurers that offer it as a benefit to create separate monthly bills for it, "When rules come down that are frankly anti-women's health care, that are trying to make it harder to get access to abortion services, I'll fight for women, I'll fight for equal rights and I'll fight for access abortion services."
Weiser says not only are the rules arbitrary and capricious, they violate equal protection under the law, "To be equal women need to control their bodies, have access to birth control, access to the choice of an abortion."
With a gridlocked Congress, state Attorneys General have evolved into a powerful force, shaping and even stopping federal policy. After he's sworn in, Weiser says he will also join lawsuits that Democratic Attorneys General have filed over the separation of families at the border, protections for pre-existing conditions and attempts to overturn the methane rule.
"For at least the next two years, where we have a presidency and an administration willing to do things like this birth control issue, that is illegal and hurts people, an important check is going to be the Attorney General of the state of Colorado and other states that are committed to fighting for the rule of law and protecting people."
Shaun Boyd is CBS4's political specialist. She's a veteran reporter with more than 25 years of experience. Follow her on Twitter @cbs4shaun.
