Lawyer: Not clear Trump rules would affect women

13/12/2017 11:14

                A lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice says it's not clear that new rules crafted by the Trump administration would cause any women to lose insurance coverage for birth control services. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ethan Davis made the comments during a hearing in federal court in Oakland on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by California to block the rules. Davis urged U.S. District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam not to grant the state's request, arguing that California had not identified a single woman who would be affected by the rules. Gilliam did not immediately issue a ruling. Julie Weng-Gutierrez, an attorney with the California attorney general's office, said the loss of free contraception would lead to unintended pregnancies, which would lead to health care and social costs for California.