Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Protected The Rights of All While Infringing on None by Eric Reyes: Tuesday July 1, 2014. The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) trumps Obamacare. It didnt even address the issue of employer vs employee rights. For one thing, there is absolutely no right to birth control. Even if there WERE such a right, theres no right to have it paid for. Even if there WERE such a right, theres no right to have it paid for by your employer. Even if there WERE such a right, the government cant force an employer to violate their well established religious beliefs if their business is otherwise run in accordance with those beliefs, as Hobby Lobby always has been. This decision was a great win for The Constitution and liberty for us all. Then theres the fact that Hobby Lobby has ALWAYS offered and still does pay for 16 of the 20 forms of birth control included in the Obamacare list. Every employee there knew that when they took the job. I highly doubt any of them will quit over this because HL pays them more than their competitors do and gives much better benefits for less hours worked and they have Sundays off. The decision does not in any way infringe on any employee’s religious beliefs. Employees are free to use any birth control they want. All the decision did was not require Hobby Lobby to pay for other peoples choices that violates THEIR religious beliefs. The ONLY religious rights that were at issue in this case were those of Hobby Lobby. I dont think some people understand that the arguments theyre making werent even made by the side they agree with! The government in defending the Unconstitutional Obamacare mandate never once argued that there wasnt a legitimate exemption available for religious reasons. In fact, the administration willingly granted an exemption to thousands of employers for that very reason. Churches, hospitals, universities, social services, etc. ALL of them were exempt from the requirement if they were religiously affiliated or held well established firm religious beliefs and incorporated those beliefs into their day to day operations. The ONLY issue the Obama administration was arguing was whether a corporation such as Hobby Lobby that is not directly connected to a church and engages in commerce for profit can be exempt as a result of them carrying their firmly held religious beliefs over into most of their business practices. THAT was the only question. Was hobby lobby religious enough to qualify for an exemption. President Obama said no. Hobby Lobby said yes. President Obama was wrong. President Obama himself would reject the ill-informed arguments I see being made all over the internet. All 9 justices of the Supreme Court, including the one who wrote the dissenting opinion above, agree that religious institutions are exempt from the contraception requirement. They also agree that certain businesses with close enough ties to a church/religion are exempt (ex. Trinity Medical Systems, Genesis Health, Augustana College, St. Ambrose, Notre Dame, etc.). They just disagreed over whether HL was close enough. For those of us who actually read the Court opinion everyone is arguing about, we know that the women who want ANY of the 20 types of contraception can still get them all FOR FREE (free to them, not to us taxpayers, of course). HHS already has an exemption system in place where nonprofit corporations (like hospitals and schools and social services, etc.) dont have to cover the cost of the 4 contraceptives but neither do the employees who want them. Hobby Lobby will now simply fall under that program. So, to sum up, this decision doesnt affect what contraceptives women can choose whatsoever, AND it doesnt make them pay a single penny more for ANY of the 20 forms of contraception on the list. It simply doesnt FORCE Hobby Lobby to pay for the four items in question against their beliefs. How is it that anyone can say with a straight face that this decision in ANY way restricts womens religious freedom or health and reproductive choices??? Exactly.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 19:51:54 +0000
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