Cleveland - U.S. Supreme Court allows religious exemption for birth control coverage under Obamacare in Hobby Lobby case

June 30, 2014

1 min read

ObamaCare

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By Sabrina Eaton, Plain Dealer Washington Reporter

A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declared that closely-held companies need not provide contraceptive coverage for their employees under the Affordable Care Act if their owners have religious objections to doing so.

The case was brought by two companies that asserted their owners' religious freedom should exempt them from a the Affordable Care Act's obligation that for-profit companies provide contraceptive coverage in their workers health insurance plans.

The Southern Baptist operators of the Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby craft store chain and the Mennonite owners of Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp., a Pennsylvania cabinet maker, equate some forms of contraception – like the morning-after pill - with abortion. . . .

The Ohio company's lawyer, Frank Manion of the American Center for Law and Justice, called Monday's decision "a complete vindication" of his clients and "a sweeping rejection" of arguments the government has made against accommodating business owners who have religious objections to paying for their employees' birth control. . . .

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