After ruling on two cases, the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s religious policies for employers. This could leave women without free contraception and thousands with no option to sue their employers for discrimination. 

As elections get closer and closer, so is the significance of this ruling for President Donald Trump. 

Since he is up for re-election, this will help sure up  his evangelical supporter base, a group he’s remained true throughout his presidency.

It is surprising that in the progressive time we are supposed to live, something as popular and beneficial as birth control is under attack by government officials.

The Supreme Court ruling allows employers and universities to declare themselves exempt from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the landmark law that requires health insurance to cover birth control without a co-pay. 

Under the law, synagogues and churches were exempt from the birth control mandate, but nonprofits like religious-affiliated universities, charities, and hospitals were not exempt. The Obama administration had enacted an “opt-out” provision for employers who objected to the law for religious purposes.

In 2017, the lower courts had backed the changes proposed to allow more employers to opt out of providing the no-cost birth control coverage required by law.

Conservative groups applauded the decision, including the White House. 

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a big win for religious freedom and freedom of conscience,” chimed in spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was a “fundamental misreading” of the healthcare law.

It does not end there, though. The Trump administration still looks to overturn the Obama era Affordable Care Act completely. They have called Justices to back them up in the move. The case is currently scheduled to be argued before the courts in October. 

The ruling from Wednesday, based on the government, would affect an estimated 70,000 women that would lose birth control coverage in one year. 

It just still makes me beg the question: I thought we had separation of church and state?

It seems that women are constantly a topic in the Supreme Court, as if we are something that should be decided on.