White House to women: Your body, our choice

Plus: Bizarre photo-op No Images? Click here         Trump Rolls Back Obama’s Birth Control Coverage Rule President Donald Trump’s administration issued a new rule Friday that allows all employers to opt out of including birth control in their health insurance plans for any moral or religious reason, rolling back the Obama-era requirement that guaranteed contraception coverage at no cost to 62 million women.  Requiring insurance plans to cover birth control imposes a “substantial burden” to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and could promote “risky sexual behavior” among adolescents, the administration told reporters Thursday night. The Affordable Care Act deemed contraception an essential part of women’s preventive health care for the first time in history, requiring that it be covered under most insurance plans, along with prenatal care, breast exams and well-woman visits. The birth control mandate compelled for-profit employers to cover the full range of contraceptives, including the pill, the intrauterine device and the Plan B morning-after pill, at no out-of-pocket cost to women, while carving out exemptions for churches and nonprofit religious organizations.  The Trump administration, which is stacked with officials who oppose contraception, will now allow any employer or for-profit company, regardless of whether they are religious, to refuse to include the coverage in their health insurance plans for moral reasons. This could mean that tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of women in the United States will once again have to pay out of pocket for birth control.  READ MORE     WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING? The NRA is pointing its finger at Hollywood for mass shootings. The hypocrisy is beyond belief,” CEO Wayne LaPierre said Thursday. READ MORE On Friday, visitors to the Washington Monument are being greeted by an unusual sight and sound: a large video screen playing President Donald Trump’s infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, accompanied by statistics about sexual assault. It’s playing for 12 hours, on a continuous loop.  READ MORE In a bizarre photo op, Trump told reporters "this is the calm before the storm." Reporters at the gathering expressed confusion around the event ― which was called after the day’s press “lid” was placed for the evening. READ MORE    .     ICYMI Almost nobody wants to loosen restrictions on gun silencers. Even gun owners. But pending legislation in Congress would remove silencers from the National Firearms Act, allowing people to obtain them easily.   ICE is threatening more "collateral" arrests after California enacted a "sanctuary state" law. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law limiting cooperation between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.   A Tea Party-aligned group is helping push Congress to debate the United States' role in the Yemen war. Opposition to the war unites libertarians and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. But GOP leaders may try to block a vote.    . Want more?  Whistleblower Speaks Out: Morale At Interior Department Is ‘In The Toilet’   Robert Mueller’s Russia Probe Reportedly Looking Into The ‘Pee Tape’ Dossier   You Can’t Quit Facebook And Google Even If You Wanted To   How will Trump’s administration impact you? Sign up for our email and find out. Did a friend send you this? Subscribe here. Like what you see? Share it. Want more? Here are two other newsletters you'll love: The Morning Email and Must Reads. ©2017 HuffPost | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates from HuffPost Feedback | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe    . - - Preferences  |  Unsubscribe