A bill recently heard in an Alaska Senate committee would require employers to cover a type of abortion pills in their insurance plans in the name of covering contraceptives, a local news outlet reported March 20.
According to Must Read Alaska, SB 276 requires insurance coverage of prescription contraceptives. Religious employers are exempted, but other employers may be required to cover a drug called ulipristal acetate, which is considered a contraceptive by the Food and Drug Administration.
However, the drug acts similarly to the better-known abortion pill, mifepristone, Must Read Alaska reported. Studies on the drug suggest that it operates by preventing an embryo from implanting in its mother’s womb, rather than preventing conception in the first place.
“Although people with pro-life convictions disagree on the moral implications of contraception, pro-life supporters are united on this ground: life begins at conception,” Must Read Alaska reported.
According to the outlet, the bill’s religious exemption clause denies all other employers the opportunity to protect unborn life and added that a pro-life view is “more than a religious sentiment.”
“It is a constitutional duty and a universal moral imperative,” the outlet reported.
Must Read Alaska stated that Alaska’s legislation should accurately represent the difference between abortion drugs and contraceptives with “a clear definitional line.”