Perhaps some of my confusion is semantic; I think it is torturing the language a bit to draw an equivalence between "decline to provide" and "restrict access." It seems peculiar that to recognize, in my simpleminded reading, "making it more difficult for someone to get something" we cannot simply observe the parties involved but must consider the existence of some legislation -- wait, no, the intent behind the legislation. How do we even know the intent? Is it written in the preamble?

I also think that for the word "restriction" to apply it should be meaningfully more difficult for the person to obtain what they want compared to when they had no interaction with the other party. I have plenty of lunch options, so if my boss declines to hold back a portion of my salary to buy me a tuna sandwich, it does not restrict my access to lunch (while reducing my income to buy tuna sandwiches would restrict my choices). This is true even if workplace tuna sandwiches are mandatory and other bosses provide them. I had the same access to nutrition before taking the job; if anything, the job helps me get what I want since the boss cannot control my spending.

Medical benefits are a very complicated way of obtaining services, but in the end the customer (employee, in this case) is still paying for the IUD. As a form of insurance, employees who don't get IUDs will pay for the ones who do. That's not necessarily bad; I don't mind paying for coverage for cancer treatment even though I hope never to qualify for the benefit, and a negotiated group rate might be better than that for individuals.

But would it not be better to maintain and encourage flexibility in what is covered, rather than forcing everyone to make the same choice? The fact that employers exist who are morally opposed to certain benefits suggests that there are also employees who do not want those benefits. By forcing some employees to pay for coverage for a benefit they do not want, their freedom is slightly eroded, their choices diminished, and diversity in society is reduced.