AUL Observed Chief Justice Roberts Clearly Understood the Life Issues at Stake for Companies like Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties

WASHINGTON, D.C. (03-25-14) — Americans United for Life General Counsel Ovide Lamontagne attended oral arguments today in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius, having overseen the filing of 19 amicus curiae briefs related to life and conscience issues raised in Obamacare, including those in this case. On leaving the court, Lamontagne made the following observations: “It took 90 minutes of discussion before the heart of the case was addressed. Ultimately Chief Justice John Roberts accurately focused on the issue before the court: the religious objection by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties to pay for life ending drugs and devices.

“In response to a hypothetical question from Justice Anthony Kennedy who asked the Solicitor General Donald Virrilli whether a for-profit employer could be forced to pay for abortion coverage, Virrilli tried to distinguish the hypothetical, but Chief Justice stopped him in his tracks. The Chief correctly stated that Justice Kennedy’s hypothetical is exactly what the case before the Court is all about.

“He noted that people of faith could easily and honestly take the view that the devices and drugs in question were abortifacients. The Solicitor General tried to dodge the question by saying states and other government entities had defined emergency contraception and other devices differently, but Chief Justice Roberts pressed Virrilli appropriately and highlighted exactly what the issue the case involved was.

“During discussion, the government unsuccessfully argued its ‘parade of horribles’ with the help of some of the Justices. But in then end it was clear that the majority of Justices were not convinced that Religious Freedom Restoration Act (which occupied a lot of the discussion) applied only to individuals and religious corporations. RFRA applies to all ‘citizens,’ individual and corporate.

“Paul Clement’s final arguments were compelling. He emphasized that the government failed the least restrictive alternatives analysis and did indeed impose a substantial burden on corporate employers, particularly sub-chapter S corps.

“Justice Breyer along with Justices Kennedy, Alito, Scalia and Roberts posed challenging questions regarding the government’s position. In the end, it appeared Attorney Paul Clement and his clients, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods had a significantly better argument and position.”

During news events at the Supreme Court prior to the arguments, AUL’s President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest noted that the case reflects “a fundamental shift in tactics by abortion advocates, moving Americans from ‘choice’ to coercion as people are forced to fund and facilitate life-ending drugs and devices or face punishing, crippling, job-killing fines. This administration put ‘The Con’ in contraception, by hiding an anti-life agenda in the construction of the Affordable Care Act and forcing Americans to fund anti-life drugs mislabeled as contraception.”

Supreme Court Hears Landmark Hobby Lobby Case

Washington, D.C. – The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the landmark case Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, determining whether individuals lose their religious freedom when they open a family business.

At issue is the Health and Human Service (HHS) Mandate which requires David and Barbara Green and their family business Hobby Lobby to provide and facilitate four potential life-terminating drugs and devices in their health insurance plan, against their religious convictions, or pay severe fines to the IRS (see video).

“Our family started Hobby Lobby built on our faith and together as a family.  We’ve kept that tradition for more than forty years and we want to continue to live out our faith in the way we do business,” said Barbara Green, co-founder of Hobby Lobby.  “The choice that the government has forced on us is out of step with the history of our great nation founded on religious freedom.  We believe that no American should lose their religious freedom just because they open a family business.  We are thankful that the Supreme Court has heard our case, and we prayerfully await the justices’ decision.”

Founded in an Oklahoma City garage in 1972, the Green family has grown Hobby Lobby from one 300-square-foot retail space into more than 500 stores in over 40 states.  Devout Christians, the Green family believes that “it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured” and seek to run their company “in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.”  This includes closing on Sundays and generous treatment of their employees with full-time hourly workers starting at 90 percent above the federal minimum wage. The Greens and their family businesses have no moral objection to providing 16 of the 20 FDA-approved contraceptives under the HHS mandate, and will continue to provide a broad range of contraceptives at no additional cost to their employees.

“No one should be forced to give up their constitutionally protected civil rights just to open a family business,” said Lori Windham, Senior Counsel for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and counsel for Hobby Lobby. “This case demonstrates in no uncertain terms that the government’s efforts to strip this family business of its religious rights represent a gross violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment.”

In court today former United States Solicitor General Paul Clement argued on behalf of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood, two family businesses whose cases were consolidated before the court. Clement argued that Hobby Lobby and Conestoga are protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and that nothing in the law excludes these family businesses and their owners from religious freedom protections.

The Court is expected to rule on the case before the end of its current term in June.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty  is a non-profit, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions—from Anglicans to Zoroastrians. For 18 years its attorneys have been recognized as experts in the field of church-state law. The Becket Fund recently won a 9-0 victory in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, which The Wall Street Journal called one of “the most important religious liberty cases in a half century.”    For more information, or to arrange an interview with one of the attorneys, please contact Emily Hardman, Communications Director, at ehardman@becketfund.org or call 202.349.7224.

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Concerned Women for America