Today the Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases that challenge Obamacare's contraceptive mandate as a violation of religious freedom. Last year the Court upheld the requirement that individuals obtain government-approved medical coverage by treating it as an exercise of the tax power. This will be the Court's second opportunity to assess the legality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
In one of the cases the court plans to hear, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, David and Barbara Green, who own the Oklahoma-based chain together with their three children, argue that forcing them to provide their employees with health plans that cover certain forms of contraception violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Greens specifically object to four kinds of contraception—Ella, Plan B, and two IUDs—that work by preventing implantation of fertilized ova, which they view as morally equivalent to abortion.
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The other challenge to the contraceptive rule, Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius, involves a Pennsylvania cabinet company owned by the Hahns, a Mennonite family. The Hahns, like the Greens, object to contraceptives that prevent implantation rather than fertilization. But in July the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit rejected their RFRA claim, concluding that their business is not covered by the statute because it is a for-profit corporation and therefore does not qualify as a "person." The Court held that "a for-profit, secular corporation cannot engage in the exercise of religion."
