Combined oral contraceptive pills
Supreme Court ruled on Monday that employers with religious beliefs against abortion and contraceptives are allowed to exclude contraceptive coverage from their employees’ health care benefits.
The issue was brought to court by two separate businesses. Hobby Lobby is a craft store owned by the Greens, a Christian family. The Hahns, who also claim to be Christian, own a wood-working business called Conestoga. Both families believe that it is against their religious beliefs to provide certain methods of contraception to their female employees, because they believe that a fetus is a life from its contraception. Hence, ending that life would be sinful. However, if they refused to provide this health benefit to their employees, the employers would be forced to pay a heavy fine worth millions of dollars, a burden too heavy for them to bear.
The court “concluded that the contraceptive mandate [by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)] substantially burdened the exercise of religion by requiring the companies to choose between compromise[ing] their religious beliefs and paying a heavy fee […] if they simply refused to provide coverage for the contraceptives at issue,” the court decision read (internal quotations excluded).
In addition, the court “held that HHS had failed to demonstrate a compelling interest in enforcing the mandate against the Greens’ businesses and, in the alternative, that HHS had failed to prove that enforcement of the mandate was the least restrictive means of furthering the Government’s asserted interests.” The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) required that a government “action that imposes a substantial burden on religious exercise must serve a compelling government interest.” The Court decided that the HHS did indeed place a burden on religious practice, and that in comparison, the government interest was not compelling enough.
This decision has been heralded as a great victory by many religious leaders all throughout this morning. Dr. David Stevens, the CEO of Christian Medical Association, said, “This is a much-needed victory for faith freedoms, because this administration continues its assault on the values of the faith community. We are witnessing increasing attempts by the government to coerce the faith community to adopt the government’s viewpoint in matters of conscience.”
Troy Newman, the President of Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion organization, exclaimed, “This is a huge win for people of conscience and a stern rebuke for Obama and his HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, who have repeatedly overstepped their authority and attempted to strip Americans of their precious freedoms.”
However, although the Court uses terms such as “religious practice” or “exercise of religion” for the reason behind this ruling, it also states that
“In any event, [this] decision in these cases is concerned solely with the contraceptive mandate. 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. Other coverage requirements, such as immunizations, may be supported by different interests (for example, the need to combat the spread of infectious diseases) and may involve different arguments about the least restrictive means of providing them.”
In other words, this means that if blood transfusions or immunizations or other medical needs are against a certain employer’s religious beliefs, they are still required to provide coverage for their employees. The decision made today only applies to contraceptives.
The Hobby Lobby case also brought about an uproar from women, as many may not actually use contraceptives for birth control purposes. Other ways in which women use contraceptives include cramps, heavy or irregular periods, and some premenstrual symptoms, according to the Planned Parenthood website.
The website also says that acquiring contraceptives outside of health insurance can cost up to $50 per month. This can be a financial burden for women who are struggling to simply make ends meet.
“Today, the Supreme Court ruled against American women and families, giving bosses the right to discriminate against women and deny their employees access to birth control coverage,” said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. He further stated, “This is a deeply disappointing and troubling ruling that will prevent some women, especially those working hourly-wage jobs and struggling to make ends meet, from getting birth control.”
The Court decision has also been decried by some religious leaders. Julia Stronks, “an evangelical Christian, political science professor,” and Jeffrey Peipert, a “Jewish, family-planning physician” wrote in an opinion piece that “a ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby could lead to more abortions.”
They explained, “Contraception doesn’t cause abortions, it helps prevent them. A ruling allowing for-profit corporations to deny their employees contraceptive coverage would actually undermine increased access to the most effective ways to prevent unintended pregnancy and abortions.”
Jonathan Merritt, a Christian journalist, wrote a piece about corporations being called “Christian,” and expressed his concern about the Hobby Lobby case. He took a more theological approach and pointed out a flaw in religious conservatives’ stance.
“The New Testament never—not one time—applies the “Christian” label to a business or even a government. The tag is applied only to individuals. If the Bible is your ultimate guide, the only organization one might rightly term “Christian” is a church. And this is only because a church in the New Testament is not a building or a business, but a collection of Christian individuals who have repented, believed on Christ, and are pursuing a life of holiness.”
