“Today is a great day for religious liberty,” said Adele Keim, counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty which represented Hobby Lobby in their case against the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act. In the 5-4 decision, “The Supreme Court ruled Monday that certain “closely held” for-profit businesses can cite religious objections in order to opt out of a requirement in ObamaCare to provide free contraceptive coverage for their employees” according to Fox News.
Today is a great day for religious liberty.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito maintained that the contraceptive mandate in it’s current form is “unlawful” but emphasized that this decision is not a sweeping one that applies to all companies wanting to opt out of providing full health care to their employees. The businesses and corporations it applies to are run by just “a few people in which there is no essential difference between the business and its owners.” He went on to clarify “that the decision Monday is limited to contraceptives under the health care law. ‘Our decision should not be understood to hold that an insurance-coverage mandate must necessarily fall if it conflicts with an employer’s religious beliefs.'”
According to CNN News, Hobby Lobby and several other religious minded corporations took issue with providing certain kinds of contraception that prevent human embryos from being implanted in a woman’s womb as equal to abortion. These include emergency contraceptives Plan B (also know as “the morning after pill”) and ella, as well as intrauterine devices that can also cost up to $1000.
“[These] corporations emphasized their desire to operate in harmony with biblical principles while competing in a secular marketplace.” The plaintiffs had argued that the 1993 federal law dealing with religious freedom along with the First Amendment should extend religious freedom to private organizations. Since the Health Care Act would be financially burdensome to these organizations due to their decision to opt out and having to pay the $100 per/day fine for religious reasons, costing Hobby Lobby up to $145 million in a year. This was the first time the court had recognized a for-profit corporations religious rights under Constitutional Law. This was the first time the court had recognized a for-profit corporations religious rights under Constitutional Law.
The 4 dissenting justices proclaimed their apprehension about such a decision being passed as opening the door for future religious opt-outs where the employees do not agree with their employers beliefs and minimizes the government control over universal application of the laws to all citizens. CNN reported, “supporters of the law fear a high court setback on the contraception mandate will lead to other healthcare challenges on religion grounds, such as do-not-resuscitate orders and vaccine coverage. More broadly, many worry giving corporations religious freedom rights could affect laws on employment, safety, and civil rights.”
Justice Alito responded to such concerns by suggesting that women can enjoy the benefits of being fully covered, if corporations behave in similar ways to religious non-profit organizations. One suggestion he made was to “[let] the groups’ insurers or a third-party administrator take on the responsibility of paying for the birth control.”
Mormon politicians have responded from both sides of the aisle.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader, Nevada Senator Harry Reid stated:
It's time that five men on the Supreme Court stop deciding what happens to women.
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) June 30, 2014
While Utah Senator Mike Lee said:
The #HobbyLobby decision is important victory for religious liberty. Americans don't shed religious freedoms merely by going into business.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 30, 2014
But what do you think?
Read the full ruling here.
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