By Jean Godden

      President Donald Trump recently added to his infamy by upping the war on women. He took the shameful action of making it easier for employers to deny women birth control coverage.

     The administration rule issued October 6 was termed "an emergency." That means Trump's action takes effect immediately. The administration excused the emergency designation, saying it was necessary to prevent "risky sexual behavior" by some teenagers and young women. 

     Risky sexual behavior: It seems unreal to write those three words. It sounds like something straight from 19th Century standards. Worse than that it calls to mind Margaret Atwood's dark novel, "The Handmaid's Tale."

      In case you haven't read Atwood's chilling story or haven't followed the pay-for-TV plot, the tale imagines a totalitarian regime named Gilead that has overthrown this country's leaders, suspended the U. S. Constitution and subjugated women. Women are politicized and controlled, not even allowed to read. Fertile women have become handmaids of the elite, forced into sexual relations and made to bear children for barren couples.

      Atwood wrote the tale 40 years ago. It was disturbing then but, in some sense, it is prophetic, foreshadowing the lengths to which the Trump administration will go to punish women. 

       The action that the president's men (Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor) have taken -- repeal of an Obama-era rule -- has the potential to affect 55 million women. It expands the rights of employers -- ala the Hobby Lobby exemption -- to deny coverage for birth control while in some cases preserving coverage for viagra and cialis. 

     When he implemented the rule on birth control coverage, President Obama took steps to ensure exemption for churches, mosques and houses of worship whenever coverage ran counter to religious provisions. President Trump's sweeping new rules take those exemptions much further. The Trump rules allow employers to refuse to cover birth control not only for religious reasons, but also for moral objections. 

    This essentially means that any business can opt out. Trump's action nominally was taken to curry favor with fundamentalists and conservatives but it also paves the way for those who want to deny coverage to save money. You know the crowd: the bozos who say the solution to birth control is "just keep your knees together." 

      The result is that any business, university or other organization will be able to opt out of providing birth control coverage without having to notify the government. Under the Obama system, employees could receive direct coverage through insurance companies. That system is now left to the employer. In other words, let the boss decide about your health and welfare.

      These rules will reverse years of progress and will be costly to women who must cover increased expenses for health care that ought to be provided. It is bound to affect the reproductive health and economic security of millions.

     It is essential to point out that birth control medication not only provides pregnancy prevention but also is used to treat such gynecological conditions as tumors, ovarian cysts and endometriosis. There is little question that the Trump rules will lead to unnecessary suffering, expense and even to deaths.

     Amidst this appalling reversal, there remain a few hopeful signs that Trump's sweeping rules could be overturned. Senator Patty Murray has proposed a Save Women's Preventive Care Act. There also are challenges from the National Women's Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as lawsuits proposed by state attorneys general in this state as well as Massachusetts and California. The attorneys contend that the Trump rules violate the First Amendment prohibition against establishment of a state religion.

       There's no doubt Trump's assault on the birth control mandate was fueled by his spite towards Obama. But, beyond that, this outrage is another attack in his war against women and a step towards the world of the Handmaid's Tale.