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Hobby Lobby Case Summary

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In the landmark decision of Burwell, Secretary of Human Health Services, et al. v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., the United States Supreme Court allowed closely held for-profit corporations to exercise religious freedoms that could deny its female employees health coverage of contraceptives. The contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will now excuse religious for-profit companies from providing contraceptives which may prevent implantation. Previously, this exemption was only provided to non-profit religious organizations such as churches. The decision was not unanimous with the Supreme Court Justices split at 5-4 and was highly contested. The majority supports that the contraceptive mandate of the ACA violates for-profit companies’ …show more content…

Despite being given the option to pay tax of $2000 per employee so they can qualify for their own health insurance (known as the no-plan tax), Hobby Lobby refused due to fear that a lack of a health insurance plan would detract potential employees and they would need to raise wages. However, according to the Kaiser Foundation Survey, it shows that Hobby Lobby currently pays over $4,000 per single employee and over $11,000 per family plan which would allow room for Hobby Lobby to increase wages significantly and still allow employees and their dependents to choose contraception if they so wished (Kaiser Foundation Survey qtd. in Gedicks 168-69). Hobby Lobby’s unwillingness to compromise their business model for the benefit of third party employees yet still manage religious beliefs show that while their religious beliefs matter to them, it clearly does not matter as much as for-profit business. This is precisely why it is difficult to allow for-profit companies to have religious freedom because money will interfere with vaguely held religious beliefs (Gedicks

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