Open Thread: #SCOTUS Hobby Lobby ruling
As I noted yesterday, the Supreme Court is expected to announce today their verdict in the Hobby Lobby religious freedom case, which pits the family-owned company against the Obama administration’s Obamacare “birth control mandate.” The Hill provides a preview of what’s ahead:
The boundaries of religious freedom hang in the balance as the Supreme Court prepares to close out its term with a decision on the Affordable Care Actβs βbirth control mandate.β
Mondayβs ruling, the most closely watched of the season, decides round two for ObamaCare at the high court, and will be the second time that the justices will close their term with a ruling on President Obama’s signature law.
The stakes are high. A ruling against the administration could undermine the statuteβs provision requiring companies to offer contraceptive services to workers as part of their insurance coverage.
It would peel away a significant portion of the mandate, potentially affecting preventive health coverage for millions of women, the government and backers of the law say.
Perhaps even more important, they contend, are the ramifications of a finding that corporations could be exempt from federal statutes on grounds that they have religious objections.
βThis really is about whether or not employers based on religious views can pick and choose which federal laws to follow and not follow,β Kathleen Sebelius, who guided the lawβs rollout through rough political waters during her turbulent tenure as Obamaβs health secretary, said Friday.
Critics of the provision are on equally sharp tenterhooks in advance of the ruling, which will strike at the very root of the Constitutionβs First Amendment.
The consolidated case, generally known asΒ Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, centers on challenges to the contraception mandate brought by a pair of companies: the Hobby Lobby craft store chain and Conestoga Woods Specialties, a Pennsylvania-based cabinetmaker.
The firms and like-minded critics of the mandate say it violates both the First Amendmentβs free exercise clause and the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which provides that, βgovernment shall not substantially burden a personβs exercise of religion.β
That statue trumps the contraception rule, argues Noel J. Francisco, a partner at Jones Day, who has represented business interests before the Supreme Court and chairs the firmβs government regulations practice.
βThat regulation, like all regulations is subordinate to RFRA, which is a law,β he said, asserting that Congress approved the measure βto protect against this kind of thing.β
10 a.m. ET today is when we’ll find out. Please make sure to check SCOTUSblogβs live blogΒ of proceedingsΒ as well as theirΒ Twitter feedΒ in order to stay updated on the latest news regarding the high court’s ruling on this case. And no doubt all the major 24 hour news networks like Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC will be providing news and analysis of today’s verdictΒ in real-time. Β Also, please feel free to use this as an open thread to express your opinion on both the ruling and its implications going forward.