Just before the Obama administration released its final rules on the contentious contraceptive mandate, a federal appeals court weighed in on behalf of an American business fighting it in court.
The case is Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Kathleen Sebelius. Hobby Lobby is a chain of crafts stores that its owners, the Green family, run in “a manner consistent with Biblical principles.” Among other things, that means losing out on millions in sales by remaining closed on Sundays. Though the Greens have no issue with contraception coverage per se, they balk at the abortion-causing drugs they say the HHS mandate would force them to pay for.
So they have sued. The district court denied relief on the grounds that Hobby Lobby is a corporation But the 10th Circuit has now ruled that Hobby Lobby does have religious-liberty rights under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act — and that the contraceptive mandate both burdens those rights and threatens the company with irreparable injury.
In short, this case poses fundamental questions about religious liberty the Supreme Court will likely end up deciding. We hope it looks to the law the way the 10th Circuit did. Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, puts it this way: “In America, religious liberty has never been confined within the walls of houses of worship. Religious believers have broad freedom to live out their beliefs in all aspects of their lives.”
Whether it be a Jewish butcher whose business follows kosher practices or an evangelical Christian restaurant that won’t serve booze, millions of Americans run businesses in accord with their religious beliefs. No one forces anyone to work for them or buy from them or sell to them. All these Americans ask is this: that their government not force them to do things that violate their deepest principles.
You might even call it tolerance.