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Religious Freedom and Reproductive Rights Face Off at Supreme Court

The Court will determine whether businesses can be exempted on religious grounds from having to provide insurance that covers contraception.
Photo by Reuters

The Christian craft-supply chain Hobby Lobby, with over 500 stores nationwide, has a strong reputation for treating employees well, paying a starting wage of $11 an hour — over 50 percent of the federal minimum wage. But the company’s stand on birth control is now becoming a flashpoint for the rollout of the Affordable Healthcare Act.

Because of owner David Green's religious beliefs, Hobby Lobby wants to violate the Affordable Care Act and refuse to let its employee insurance plan cover intra-uterine devices (IUDs) and emergency contraception, like Plan B. If it did so without a legal exemption, the chain could face a staggering $475 million a year in fines for not complying. Hobby Lobby has taken its fight all the way to the Supreme Court, where hundreds of protesters were eager to meet it on Tuesday.

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The Supreme Court heard opening arguments today in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and a related case, Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius. Both companies have owners that oppose contraception on religious grounds, and are suing the government to avoid providing insurance that covers contraceptives to their employees.

At first glance, the cases might seem like just the latest squabble between the Christian right and angry feminists. But by deciding whether for-profit corporations can use religious freedom to determine what health insurance covers, the eventual ruling will impact the civil liberties of every US citizen.

Although studies have shown that a majority of Americans believe health insurance companies should be required to cover the cost of birth control, and that 99 percent of women aged 15-44 who have had heterosexual sex have used birth control, there is a chance that the Supreme Court could rule in favor of companies that object because of religion.

Three federal appeals courts have decided against the mandatory coverage, while two other appeals courts have ruled in its favor. The biggest threat to birth control coverage in the Supreme Court case might be Paul Clement, former solicitor general under George W. Bush and lead lawyer arguing this case. He’s considered by some to be “the best lawyer of his generation” and “the go-to lawyer for some of the Republican Party’s most significant, and polarizing, legal causes.” If anyone can convince the highest court in the land to shut down mandatory birth control coverage, they say, it’s Clement.

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Of course, he’s the same lawyer who failed to convince Chief Justice John Roberts to invalidate the ACA’s individual mandate two years ago. So there’s that.

Hobby Lobby’s founder David Green is an outspoken evangelical and the son of a poor preacher. He routinely thanks the Holy Spirit for his $5 billion net worth, donates millions to Christian colleges and charities, and hangs a sign on every store’s front door that explains the store closes on Sunday “to allow employees time for family and worship.”

According to a Wall Street Journal article published last week, Green didn’t even realize his company’s insurance plan covered emergency contraceptives until a lawyer from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty called and asked if Hobby Lobby wanted to join a lawsuit.

Photo by Reuters

If anything is going to overpower Hobby Lobby’s case, it will be American women coming out en masse to protest — as they did today by the hundreds at a rally outside the Supreme Court. Chanting “Not My Boss’s Business,” the protesters echoed a poll conducted for Planned Parenthood that was released yesterday, which showed that 68 percent of women think corporations should not be exempted from providing prescription birth control through employee insurance plans because of religion.

"America was founded as a country on the idea of religious liberty, which means two things: I personally don’t have to do anything because of my faith, but I also can’t tell you what to do because of my faith,” Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, told VICE News. “If the court rules in favor of Hobby Lobby in this case, we lose that balance and we tip the scales towards a minority of people who hold extreme views, and we put the majority of American workers at their disposal. That’s un-American.”

Follow Mary Emily O’Hara on Twitter: @maryemilyohara