US Supreme Court sets March date to hear Hobby Lobby case against Obamacare mandate
The US Supreme Court has officially scheduled oral arguments for the Hobby Lobby Stores’ case against the Obamacare “preventive services” mandate.
Owned and operated by a Christian family who hold religious objections to providing abortion-inducing drugs to its employees, Hobby Lobby is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
The hearing has been set for March 25, 2014 to determine the extent to which the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) applies to Hobby Lobby and other businesses’ objection to providing various contraceptive insurance coverage for their employees, reported Scotusblog.
“Whether the [RFRA], which provides that the government ‘shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion’ unless that burden is the least restrictive means to further a compelling governmental interest, allows a for-profit corporation to deny its employees the health coverage of contraceptives to which the employees are otherwise entitled by federal law, based on the religious objections of the corporation’s owners,” reads an entry on the blog.
The Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby, filed a lawsuit against HHS in September 2012. At specific issue for the Greens was the providing of the “morning after” and “week after” pills, which are considered abortion-inducing and thus in opposition to the family’s pro-life views.
“The government is saying we have to provide prescriptions that are abortive and that violate our conscience, because we believe that life begins at conception and it’s something that we have no desire to fully fund, which is what the mandate requires,” said Hobby Lobby President Steve Green.
“We know that some of the freedoms in the First Amendment are available to for-profit companies…But, for some reason, the government says that in the religious freedoms that a for-profit company does not have those rights. I don’t know where they see that. That’s what the government is arguing in the courts. We’ll just have to wait and see what the judges say.”
The Christian Post details the Hobby Lobby case:
- After filing suit in September 2012, Hobby Lobby found itself failing to get an injunction to protect itself from the fines associated with refusing to comply with the HHS mandate.
- Eventually, last June, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit overturned a lower court ruling denying Hobby Lobby a preliminary injunction.
- Last July, Western Oklahoma District Court granted Hobby Lobby its preliminary injunction, leading the federal government to appeal to the Supreme Court.
- In October, Hobby Lobby also filed an appeal with the Court, arguing that the highest court in the land should address the questions raised by their lawsuit.
- By late November, the Court agreed to hear the case along with a similar appeal by Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation and last week the Court scheduled oral arguments for March.
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