The U.S. Supreme Court said they will hear arguments for cases involving the Obamacare requirement for health plans to cover birth control as it relates to for-profit companies.
The two cases will be heard together. The first involves Christian retailer Hobby Lobby and the second a Pennsylvania wood products manufacturer. Both busineses claim the mandate that requires them to provide “morning after pills” in employee health care plans violates their Christian beliefs because the drugs essentially produce abortions.
The Court must decide whether a company can have First Amendment religious freedom protections. The Supreme Court likely took the case because lower courts have split on the issue with Hobby Lobby winning their case and Conestoga Wood Specialties losing in lower federal courts.
“My family and I are encouraged that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide our case,” Steve Green, Hobby Lobby’s founder and CEO, told the Christian Post. “This legal challenge has always remained about one thing and one thing only: the right of our family businesses to live out our sincere and deeply held religious convictions as guaranteed by the law and the Constitution. Business owners should not have to choose between violating their faith and violating the law.”