A federal court has blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to exclude fertility-awareness methods from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate in a win for advocates of natural family planning.
U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle granted Friday a request for a temporary restraining order from Cami Jo Tice-Harouff, a Texas nurse practitioner who specializes in fertility-awareness contraception, sometimes referred to as the rhythm method.
Judge Kernodle, who sits on the court in the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, said that the Biden administration “likely violated the law in eliminating cost-free coverage” for counseling in fertility awareness-based methods (FABM).