On Tuesday, Maryland signed a bill that will reportedly put the state at the forefront of the fight to make birth control more accessible for a lot of women and men. An expansion of the Obamacare Act, Maryland's new Contraceptive Equity Act would require insurance companies to cover birth control at no out-of-pocket expense.
President Obama's Affordable Care Act already reduced the cost for women who were seeking birth control in many cases, but with the Contraceptive Equity Act, Maryland will be providing for the men as well. Indeed, it goes even further, and the Maryland bill for Contraceptive Equity means that it will be the first state to make insurance companies even cover for over-the-counter emergency contraceptives, such as any of the morning-after pills, at no cost. They will also mandate coverage for men who seek to have vasectomies at no out-of-pocket cost.