Mennonite-Owned Business Wins SCOTUS Birth Control Ruling
By now, you’ve probably heard that Hobby Lobby won its case challenging the ObamaCare mandate that private employers provide birth control to female employees who were already receiving employer-provided health insurance. Hobby Lobby argued that providing birth control violated the religious beliefs of the company’s owners.
Less-publicized: A Pennsylvania company was also one of the challengers to the mandate, and is claiming victory today:
The Supreme Court ruled this morning in favor of the Mennonite owners of East Earl-based Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp., saying the government violated their religious rights in requiring coverage of emergency contraception for their workers.
“When the decision came there was applause. There were “Thank you, Lords” in the room and eventually the whole group of us stopped and prayed,” said attorney Randall Wenger, part of the Conestoga Wood legal team.
“The announcement provides what we had hoped,” Wenger said. “There are limits on government power. There’s limits on the government’s ability to ask people to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs. The practical take-away from this is you don’t have to cede your religious liberties in order to run a business.”
The website adds: “The ruling means the 1,054-employee, for-profit company will avoid fines of $100 per worker per day, or more than $38 million a year, for not offering coverage.”
Full decision below:
