Burwell v. Hobby Lobby

You may be familiar with Hobby Lobby, an arts and crafts store with 500 store locations and over 13,000 employees. Since the very beginning, Hobby Lobby has been owned by the Greens: a very religious family who organizes their business around teachings of the Christian faith.

Under the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (ACA), businesses are required to provide preventative care and FDA-approved contraceptive methods to their employees. This directly conflicted with the beliefs of the Green family who claimed that the use of contraception and birth control was immoral. They were specifically opposed to the use of "morning after" pills and IUDs, which they believed constituted abortion. By refusing to provide this type of birth control, Hobby Lobby was required to pay regulatory taxes of $100 per employee per day (resulting in annual fines of $475 million). The Greens argued that this was a "substantial burden" on their freedom of religion. They cited the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which "ensures that interests in religious freedom are protected."

When this situation reached the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel A. Alito upheld the RFRA, claiming that this act applied to corporations as well as individuals. This decision left many people outraged. Hobby Lobby employees claimed that they had a right to receive contraceptives as part of their health insurance. Many people boycotted Hobby Lobby and protested against the RFRA.

On the other hand, most Christians supported this decision. Many people believed that the Green family had every right to uphold their religious beliefs in running their business. Many pro-life and pro-religion protesters showed up to voice their support for Hobby Lobby and its policies.






https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/us/hobby-lobby-case-supreme-court-contraception.html
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/13-354
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Burwell-v-Hobby-Lobby-Stores-Inc