WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take on a case between the federal government and a private company that says the Affordable Care Act violates the company’s owners’ religious beliefs.
Late in 2012, Hobby Lobby CEO David Green sued the federal government in order to opt out of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on the basis of religious freedom, because his Christian views conflict with Obamacare provisions which would force his company to offer coverage for birth control and other reproductive health services without a requiring a co-pay.
In November of 2012, Green wrote in a statement about the lawsuit that Obamacare “says that our family business MUST provide what I believe are abortion-causing drugs as part of our health insurance. Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions, which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill.”
Hobby Lobby temporarily ducked penalties that would have been imposed on it for not following the health care mandate.
“Hobby Lobby discovered a way to shift the plan year for its employee health insurance, thus postponing the effective date of the mandate for several months,” a lawyer for the company said in January of 2013. “Hobby Lobby does not provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs in its healthcare plan. Hobby Lobby will continue to vigorously defend its religious liberty and oppose the mandate and any penalties.”
CNN reported today that Hobby Lobby does not object to funding other forms of contraception — such as condoms and diaphragms — for their roughly 13,000 employees, which Hobby Lobby says represent a variety of faiths.
Here in Iowa, a liberal political group known as One Iowa took aim at Hobby Lobby, saying the case would have “far-reaching implications for employee rights, religious freedom, and women’s health.
One Iowa Executive Director Donna Red Wing said today that a ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby could potentially strip protections in the workplace for LGBT employees.
“Religious freedom is a foundation for American democracy and is a right we reserve for individuals and bona-fide religious institutions. Religious exemptions, however, are not something this nation grants to for-profit corporations. If corporations can impose the will of the owners on their employees regardless of the law, what would stop them from discriminating against employees on a strictly religious basis in all sorts of ways, from healthcare to workplace discrimination?
“The recent action in the Senate towards passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was a step forward for our nation, but a ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby would be a giant step back. Even if ENDA were to pass the House, a ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby would essentially render it meaningless. We urge the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the religious liberties of everyone involved, including the employees, before coming to a decision.”
A decision in the case could be expected by June of 2014.
The Snobby Lobby has no business injecting there warped Christian beliefs on all their employees. Christians need to stay out of politics or lose their tax exempt status.
I mean, you must be half insane to believe any of this religious nonsense in this day in age. We know how we came to be and it was by chance and deep time, not some God. We know what happened now based on science. A magic man in the sky didn’t do squat. You believe this nonsense only because you grew up with it. If you were born in the Middle East you’d be a Muslim and you know it. Don’t tell me you’d still be Christian.
You’re just a squirrel trying to a get a nut. Another reason why Iowa Sucks.
A lot of businesses discriminate against their employees on religious basis, and schools do it all the time. Hobby Lobby is not the only business that buys from third world countries. Everything that is sold will state somewhere on it, where it was made. It doesn’t matter if it’s Younkers, Wal-Mart, or a dollar store, it’s there.
Hobby Lobby is run by “Christian” Hypocrites. They say they uphold the sanctity of human life yet they pay pi** poor wages, have no benefits for their employees and buy 95% of their goods from third world countries. Their products are made by children who earn pennies a day along with a generous hand full of rice and a dirt floor to sleep on. God help em!
Most Christians are hypocrites and HUGE sinners.
Find Jesus you dumb a$$ before you are damned to a lake of fire which is what you deserve.
Ok, Hobby Lobby, don’t cover birth control for your employees. But then don’t object when these women find they’re in a bind and decide on a taxpayer covered abortion. And, if by chance, you’re ALSO against abortion (in addition to birth control), might we assume you’re willing to provide welfare for these unwanted children? No welfare?? Then how many would you like to adopt?
@ No Freeloaders, I understand my body and that I can produce a baby. I do not have sex with a girl that I don’t expect to have a baby from. That it is what sex is all about, reproduction. (It is not for sex for a one night stand and cross your fingers. If you have sex, you have to be committed.)
If you don’t want to live like that or believe it, that is fine with me, but don’t expect the government to cover it. That is all I am saying.
Hobby Lobby is completely in it’s right here.
John, are you for real? You have to be committed to have sex? It’s not the 40’s anymore, buddy.
Do you think all men are as responsible as you? Have you heard there are baby daddies with 10 children or more? And you’re paying for all those babies to be raised. What should we do about all these men who like to have unprotected sex but they want nothing to do with any babies that might result? It sounds like you’re saying the woman should bear all responsibility. What a cop-out.