Politics & Government

Hobby Lobby Challenges Obamacare on Contraceptives

Hobby Lobby asserts that Obamacare violates religious freedoms with contraceptive provisions.

By Brian Slupski

Hobby Lobby's challenge to the Affordable Care Act reached the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday with oral arguments in the case, NPR reported.

The case centers on Hobby Lobby's opposition to aspects of Obamacare that would require contraceptive services be covered in employee health plans.

NPR reported that Hobby Lobby has cited religious objections to the Affordable Care Act and noted that Hobby Lobby's co-founders, David and Barbara Green, are conservative Christians who object to certain birth control methods that might interfere with life once an egg is fertilized.

"The choice the government has forced on us is unfair and not in keeping with the history of our great nation founded on religious freedom," Barbara Green said in a video statement. The Greens complete video statement is attached to this post.

Hobby Lobby, which has 500 stores nationwide with 13,000 employees, is the lead plaintiff in the case. The owners of Conestoga Wood Specialties also are suing on the same grounds.

Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro Choice America, told CBS News that the idea businesses should pick and choose what sort of contraception is covered is "out of touch."

"We've had enough of this idea our reproductive health is somehow separate from our economic well being... Our bodies are not our bosses' business," Hogue told CBS.

CBS reported that the U.S. Solicitor General wrote a brief arguing that if Hobby Lobby prevails it could open the floodgates to business exemptions on a wide range of issues, including allowing discrimination against gays on religious grounds.



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