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In a health care decision giving hope to opponents of the federal birth-control coverage mandate, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Hobby Lobby stores won't have to start paying millions of dollars in fines next week for not complying with the requirement.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver decided the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain can proceed with its case and won't be subject to fines in the meantime
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave the company Hobby Lobby was the go-ahead to challenge the law requiring birth control coverage.
...
Hobby Lobby wanted an answer by July 1, and they got it. That’s when the company says they would start paying more than $1 million in fines per day for refusing to cover employees’ emergency contraception.
The federal appeals court ruled that Hobby Lobby and Mardel Christian & Education, a sister company have a strong case, and should not have to pay the fines in the meantime.
That’s contrary to what a lower court ruled.
“The appelate court in essence reprimanded the lower district court and said you should have granted a preliminary injunction,” said attorney Dan Recht, who is not involved with the case.
Congrats - I wouldn't have called it a major victory - but then I thought of $1 million per day. Yeah - that's a big deal.
From the case perspective - it's a procedural win.
Another integral part of Hobby Lobby from day one has been our faith. My parents were both pastors, and all of my siblings are involved in ministry. I felt like somewhat of an outsider going into retail, but I’ve found a way to minister through Hobby Lobby. We have always operated our company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles, including integrity and service to others. We believe wholeheartedly that it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has been successful. Therefore, we seek to honor him in all that we do.
As part of that faith, we care greatly for our employees and their families. That’s why, unlike most major retailers, we are only open 66 hours per week and are closed on Sundays to allow our employees to spend time with their families. For the past four years in a row, we have increased the minimum wage for our full-time employees, and it’s now 80 percent above the national minimum wage.
We also believe in sharing our faith, which is why we purchase full-page ads at Christmas and Easter in newspapers in all the major cities where we operate. We also contribute both time and funds to numerous Christian organizations across the nation and the world. Hobby Lobby has always been a tool for the Lord’s work. For me and my family, charity equals ministry, which equals the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We know that we have been blessed by God’s grace, and we believe it is because we have chosen to live our lives and to operate our business according to His word, and we are very grateful for that.
But now our faith is being challenged by the federal government. The Health and Human Services “preventative services” mandate forces businesses to provide the “morning-after” and the “week-after” pills in our health insurance plans. These abortion-causing drugs go against our faith, and our family is now being forced to choose between following the laws of the land that we love or maintaining the religious beliefs that have made our business successful and have supported our family and thousands of our employees and their families. We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate.
Federal officials have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the government mandate that private companies offer employees birth control coverage despite the business owner’s moral objections, with the company at the center of the suit owned by billionaire evangelical Christians.
...
Thursday’s (Sept. 19) petition from the Obama administration to the high court raises the issue central in the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which says the government “shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion” unless that burden is the least restrictive means to further a compelling governmental interest.
Obama admin says...
The administration is asking the Supreme Court to decide that for-profit corporations cannot deny their employees the health coverage of contraceptives to which the employees are otherwise entitled by federal law, based on the religious objections of the corporation’s owners.
Hobby Lobby says...
“The United States government is taking the remarkable position that private individuals lose their religious freedom when they make a living,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead lawyer for Hobby Lobby.
The government has no business mandating health insurance coverage on employers.
If the government wants to do that then let it offer their own health insurance.
“Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions.… something that is contrary to our most important beliefs. It goes against the biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one,” Hobby Lobby founder David Green wrote in an article for USA Today.
How predictable. But, wait! I can hear the bleating about to commence! It will go something like this: "But... but... how could the wonderful and sanctified Hobby Lobby possibly know what the individual companies in their investments are doing?"
Well, now that you (are about to) mention it...
Quote:
The kicker is that there are “faith based” investment options for companies like Hobby Lobby that are particular about whom they do business with. Dan Hardt, a Kentucky financial planner who specializes in faith-based investing, told Mother Jones that the performances of funds like the Timothy Plan or Ave Maria Fund, which screen for companies that make abortion drugs or support stem cell research, are about the same as if they had not been screened.
So it turns out that Hobby Lobby never even bothered to make sure its investments were in line with what founder Green calls the biblical principles on which we have run this company since day one. Sounds to me, Mr. Green, like those so-called principles of yours only matter when you have a political ax to grind.
don't want my rosary on your ovaries, keep my tax dollars out of your womb!
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Hobby Lobby Wins Appeal - No Fines While Case Advances
