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The U.S. Department of Justice is appealing a California judge's decision to temporarily block new Trump administration rules allowing more employers to opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women. Lawyers filed the notice of appeal to the 9th District Court of Appeals on Friday, nearly two months after Oakland-based U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam blocked the changes to President Barack Obama's health care law. (2/16)

The department has said it is “defending the religious liberty of all Americans.” But California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, whose suit challenging the administration’s order was joined by the states of Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia, said the Justice Department is out of line. “A woman, not her boss and certainly not a politician, should decide what’s best for her own health care,” he said. (Egelko, 2/16)