by Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
March 5, 2026
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez joined more than 20 other state prosecutors this week in urging a federal appeals court to protect access to contraceptive care and uphold a previous ruling against regulations introduced by the Trump administration.
The coalition of attorneys general filed an amicus brief with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday, calling for the court to uphold the Affordable Care Act’s requirement for employers to cover no-cost contraceptive care for employees. The Trump administration expanded religious and moral exemptions for employers in 2017 and 2018, making it easier for employers and health insurance companies to refuse to cover workers’ contraceptive care.
A lower court previously granted an injunction against the expanded regulations and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in August 2025.
“For tens of thousands of New Mexico women, contraception is simply routine health care — and they deserve the same access to it as any other essential preventive service,” Torrez said in a statement.
According to the brief, more than 80% of women between ages 18 to 49 report having used some form of contraception in the past 12 months. The brief calculates that with contraception averaging $584 per user per year, the regulations could result in $73.8 million in costs to people who use contraceptive care.
“Shifting that cost onto working families creates real financial harm and undermines that access,” Torrez said.
The coalition noted in the brief that access to birth control options has declined since the Trump administration introduced the expanded regulations following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The administration has also cut federal funding for practices offering reproductive health services.
The coalition argued that the regulations leave the health of employees vulnerable and the states to financially fill the cost of services. The brief also stated that the regulations disproportionally impact minority communities and people from lower incomes, who are already more likely to have difficulties accessing health care.
“By defendants’ own admission, the Final Rules will deprive hundreds of thousands of employees, students, and their dependents of contraceptive coverage. That deprivation threatens the health and wellbeing of the states’ residents and the economic and public health
of the states generally,” the brief reads. “As a result of defendants’ unlawful actions, states will be forced to expend millions of dollars to provide replacement contraceptive care and services for their residents.”
The coalition also noted that since the administration introduced the expanded regulations, other federal programs that provided reproductive health care experienced cuts to federal funding, such as Title X. A freeze on federal funds in early 2025 led clinics across the country to close their doors, the report adds, further hindering access to contraception and care.
Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.
