In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religiously held companies can deny women coverage for contraception
On Monday morning the Supreme Court ruled that business owners may reject women coverage of contraception under religious grounds. This is in response to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) clause that business owners provide insurance coverage for birth control to employees.
The decision means employees of those companies will have to obtain certain forms of birth control from other sources. At the heart of the Supreme Court decision is the case involving the company Hobby Lobby, a chain of arts and crafts wholesale stores out of Oklahoma. The family of owners of the company are staunchly pro-life, evangelical christians, who believe that life begins at conception.
“And because the Bible reveals God’s calling and care of persons before they are born, the preborn share in this dignity (Psalm 139:13)”
– that is the bible verse that not only the owners of Hobby Lobby [Steve Green and family], but several other evangelical business owners are citing for their lawyers in the cases that made up the Supreme Court decision.
The vote was 5-4 on ideological lines between the conservative and more moderate judges. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said in her dissent of the ruling that it was a decision of “startling breadth”.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also said negatively, “Today’s decision jeopardizes women’s access to essential healthcare.”
-Curt Cramer (@CurtisRemarc)
