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Speaker 1: Well, now it's time for our daily Bloomberg Law Brief,

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Speaker 1: exploring legal issues in the news, and it's brought to

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Speaker 1: you by American Arbitration Association, International Trade or Business Dispute

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Speaker 1: Resolve Faster with the International Center for Dispute Resolution, the

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Speaker 1: leader in alternative dispute resolution around the world, i c

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Speaker 1: d R dot org. Bloomberg Lahos studing Grasso and Michael

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Speaker 1: Best discuss how the Trump administrations move to let employers

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Speaker 1: opt out of providing health insurance that covers birth control.

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Speaker 1: They speak with Ash McGovern and Legislative and Policy director

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Speaker 1: at the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia

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Speaker 1: Law School, and Michael sell Me, professor at George Washington

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Speaker 1: University Law School. The Trump administration has been issuing orders

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Speaker 1: to try to provide more accommodations for religious people and

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Speaker 1: the religious beliefs. What exactly did Attorney General Sessions do

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Speaker 1: here and how broad is it? Well, the the initiatives

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Speaker 1: that were announced on Friday are very broad. Uh. The

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Speaker 1: one that's gotten the most attention is obviously the contraception

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Speaker 1: mandate and the expansion of the current exemptions under the

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Speaker 1: Affordable Care Act. What the Trump administration is doing, and

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Speaker 1: this is likely to spill over into many other areas

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Speaker 1: as well, But which respect of this particular issue. They

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Speaker 1: are allowing any corporate entity, any employer, to claim a

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Speaker 1: religious exemption under the Affordable Care Acts so that they

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Speaker 1: do not have to provide contraception as part of their

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Speaker 1: insurance plan. Currently, under the current law, religious entities, you know, churches,

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Speaker 1: are exempt, and then nonprofit organizations and closely held corporations

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Speaker 1: also have a workaround in that they do not have

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Speaker 1: to provide the contraception directly, but instead they would have

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Speaker 1: to provide it through insurance companies. That work around would

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Speaker 1: now be optional under the current plan under the Trump administration,

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Speaker 1: proposal West not a proposal wanted to affect immediately, but

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Speaker 1: they are taking comments now. It's an interim final rule

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Speaker 1: and the exemption would be available to any other employer

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Speaker 1: who was covered by the mandate. ASH. Let's talk about

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Speaker 1: the federal government not prosecuting religious organizations for discrimination and

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Speaker 1: the hiring and firing of employees, and does that extend

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Speaker 1: now to private businesses? Sure? So, on Friday there was

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Speaker 1: both a contraceptive roles and then there was a second

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Speaker 1: memo that came out from the Department of Justice, which

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Speaker 1: essentially issued twelve Principles of Federal Religious Freedom and Religious

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Speaker 1: Liberty that all federal agents now must follow. I'm considering

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Speaker 1: any program, rule or guidance, and what the Department of

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Speaker 1: Justice is really trying to do and the Trump administration

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Speaker 1: has been trying to do, is to train enforcements of

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Speaker 1: non discrimination and civil rights protection as discrimination against religious

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Speaker 1: rights and groups. And what's both concerning about this guidance

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Speaker 1: is the fact that it's trying to give religious liberty

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Speaker 1: supremacy over other co equal fundamental rights. It's creating a

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Speaker 1: more dangerous situations for already vulnerable communities like women, people

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Speaker 1: of color, and LGBT communities, while elevating and sort of

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Speaker 1: tipping the sum on the scale towards religious liberty at

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Speaker 1: the extent of other important fundamental rights in my constitution.

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Speaker 1: That's Ash McGovern and Legislative and Policy director at the

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Speaker 1: Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School,

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Speaker 1: and Michael sell Me, professor of law at George Washington

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Speaker 1: University Law School, speaking with Bloomberg, Laho Studing Grosso and

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Speaker 1: Michael Best. You can listen to Bloomberg Law weekdays at

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Speaker 1: one pm Wall Street time here on Bloomberg Radio