Tagged: birth control

Updated 3:34 p.m. with correction from The Associated Press - the legislation was approved on a 26-5 vote, not a voice vote.

The Missouri Senate has approved legislation letting employers refuse to provide health insurance coverage for birth control in some instances.

The legislation, passed Thursday on a 26-5 vote, would let employers deny coverage unless an employee has a medical need for birth control. The measure now goes to the Missouri House.

Two rallies in Jefferson City today each called for the repeal of the 2010 Affordable Care Act and for employers to have the right to not provide coverage for birth control.

Several hundred people attended the rally held at the State Capitol, led by several religious leaders.  Maggie Karner with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod told the crowd that President Obama’s birth control mandate is an attack on religious freedom.

“This debate is simply about us being forced to pay for products and services that are contrary to our religious beliefs, and we cannot be expected to check our faith at the door," Karner said.

Mo. House member proposes restriction on vasectomies

A Missouri House member frustrated with recent legislative debates over birth control and reproductive health is proposing to restrict vasectomies. 

Legislation sponsored by Democrat Stacey Newman would only allow vasectomies when they are necessary to protect a man from serious injury or death. The vasectomies would have to be performed in a hospital, ambulatory surgery center or health facility licensed by the state Department of Health and Senior Services.