The Supreme Court finished its term with its usual dramatic flair with the release of the long-waited decision in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores (which is consolidated with Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius). The two cases represent a classic split in the circuits with the Tenth Circuit agreeing with Hobby Lobby as to the religious claims of the company while the Third Circuit ruled against such claims by Conestoga Wood Specialities Corp. The Court ruled that the Hobby Lobby does have religious rights, but limited the decision to closely-held corporations. Where Citizen’s United recognized that corporations have free speech rights like individuals, Hobby Lobby would do the same thing for religious rights. I will be running a column in the Los Angeles Times in the morning not just addressing this ruling but, once again, highlighting what I consider a far more important case that will be decided just a couple blocks away in the D.C. Circuit — Halbig v. Sebelius. I will be discussing the decisions today at CNN starting at 10 am and continuing to the discussion at 1 pm with Wolf Blitzer.
Hobby Lobby is a fascinating case involving the retail arts and craft chain founded by David Green and owned by his family, which also happen to be Evangelical Christians. The Greens actually do not object to all of the 20 forms of birth control under the ACA. However, they are religiously opposed to supplying four methods: morning-after pills Plan B and Ella as well as two kinds of inter-uterine devices (or IUDs). (The Conestoga company is smaller and owed by Hahn family, who are Mennonite Christians) At a running fine of $100 per employee, Hobby Lobby estimates that the federal mandate would cost it about $1.3 million a day, or roughly $475 million a year.
The religious beliefs of the family are formally integrated into their company: Green family members signed a formal commitment to run the stores according to Christian religious principles, including closing on Sunday, advertising their religious orientation. The company even plays religious music inside their stores.
The Greens challenged the provisions under the and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which imposes a high standard of strict scrutiny for the government to meet when a neutral law “substantially burden[s] a person’s exercise of religion”. (Note some amicus briefs suggest that the mandatory plan should also be barred for these purpose under the Establishment Clause). In 2013, United States District Court Judge Joe Heaton granted the company a temporary exemption from the contraceptive-providing mandate. (Conestoga directly raises free exercise arguments).
In an interesting wrinkle, an April article in Mother Jones alleged that Hobby Lobby’s employee retirement plan has more than $73M invested in mutual funds which include manufacturers of some fo the very contraception devices or drugs cited in the complaint.
The decision has sweeping application – well beyond these companies or the 49 for-profit corporations that have claimed such exemptions. The ruling addresses the very essence of a religious claim and the very essence of a corporate entity.
Closely-held corporations are not as limited as it might seem. I agree with Ginsberg that the implications are sweeping. The closely-held corporations represent a huge number of businesses. As I mentioned on CNN, the large corporations are the least likely to demand such exemptions. There are millions of family businesses that may not object not just to the ACA but renew objections to discrimination laws that force such businesses to serve same-sex weddings or engage in other activities that violate their religious beliefs. This is much like Heller and the recognition of individual gun rights. We are still working out the details on how far that goes years after the decision.
This is a major blow to the Administration which in the last ten days have been found to have violated the fourth amendment and privacy and then found to be in violation of the separation of powers and now found in violation of the first amendment and religious freedom.
Catholic companies do not have to pay for any of the 20 forms of birth control that are being discussed.
SWM – guess those nuns are going to have to pay for their own contraceptives.
http://themorningconsult.com/2014/03/morning-consult-poll-seniors-opinions-on-medicare/
Seniors like Medicare, Fear ACA.
Nick, I hope you aren’t interpreting my wife’s remark as evidence of satisfaction with Medicare. I know that there are plenty of people upset with it since I get to here about it from her all of the time.
Jim22 – my wife doesn’t talk about work unless it is something unusual.
Medicare and Medicaid are combined in this survey.
Just ignore the results I just posted, huh? From the Gallup. From June 2014. But noooo, some folks seem to know better, even when one uses their “gold standard” polling source, Oy. That’s really funny.
Gallup is a Democratic polling organization.
Simply Google “Gallup Medicare” and you will get the specific surveys going back to 2001.
http://ccf.georgetown.edu/all/lessons-from-gallup-poll-finding-more-people-satisfied-with-medicaid-coverage-than-with-private-health-insurance/
Oh Lordy! That was fun.
Yes indeed Spinelli Gallup is the gold standard, LMAO!
Annie and Nick – Gallup is a Democratic leaning polling organization. They are hardly the gold standard.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/171680/americans-remain-satisfied-healthcare-system.aspx
76% percent are satisfied with Medicare/ Medicaid, from June 2014.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed that its decision a day earlier extending religious rights to closely held corporations applies broadly to the contraceptive coverage requirement in the new health care law, not just the handful of methods the justices considered in their ruling.
The justices did not comment in leaving in place lower court rulings in favor of businesses that object to covering all 20 methods of government-approved contraception.
Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby Inc. and a Pennsylvania furniture maker won their court challenges Monday in which they refused to pay for two emergency contraceptive pills and two intrauterine devices.
Tuesday’s orders apply to companies owned by Catholics who oppose all contraception. Cases involving Colorado-based Hercules Industries Inc., Illinois-based Korte & Luitjohan Contractors Inc. and Indiana-based Grote Industries Inc. were awaiting action pending resolution of the Hobby Lobby case.
They are among roughly 50 lawsuits from profit-seeking corporations that object to the contraceptive coverage requirement in their health plans for employees. Contraception is among a range of preventive services that must be included in the health plans, at no extra cost to workers.
The justices also ordered lower courts that ruled in favor of the Obama administration to reconsider thosedecisions in light of Monday’s 5-4 decision.
Two Michigan-based companies, Autocam Corp. and Eden Foods Inc., both lost their cases in the lower courts. The justices ordered the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decisions against the companies.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Paul, Being intelligent, you know the gold standard for polling is Gallup. They have a historical tracking of Medicare going back to 2001. NEVER have the satisfied been higher than the DISATISFIED. And the numbers of VERY DISATSIFIED in I think EVERY poll, was DOUBLE the % of very satisfied, The NYT piece is a sham. Go to the links. It’s a con job trying to make socialized medicine look good. I always go w/ the gold standard, particularly when they have documented trends over decade.
http://themorningconsult.com/2014/05/poll-americans-associate-health-industry-with-high-costs/
Americans love Medicare. You’re welcome Leej. I’m done now, lol.
Annie – the public survey you last linked is interesting but it is basically flawed for this discussion. I take surveys like that all the time and they mean little. They surveyed the words not the people who are involved.
Happy I am sorry for what your mother went through but an anecdote does not research make. As Annie said they are better now. As on example did you know that they are now using thalidomide again because there are benefits.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/thalidomide/art-20046534
Thalidomide: Research advances in cancer and other conditions
“Despite its history, thalidomide has proved effective in treating some diseases. Consider the benefits and risks of thalidomide to help you decide whether this drug may be right for you. ”
Let me give you a personal example: my face was paralyzed by the man who developed MVD (Jannetta Procedure) a surgery for trigeminal neuralgia. I do not tell people it is a horrid surgery because of what happened to me. I tell the story but also acknowledge it has helped many folks and for many without the risks happening.
(Thanks Nick)
(and Annie thanks for providing those links re Medicare)
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/how-do-you-feel-about-medicare/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1
The public likes their Medicare.
Annie – all your Medicare links are old news. You need something more recent.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2012/July/19/medicare-popularity.aspx
Sorry Spinelli, you couldn’t be more mistaken.
Annie – your Kaiser site is a comparison, not approval.
http://ourfuture.org/report/american-majority-project-polling
If one wants to be taken seriously, one should provide links to polls they are quoting. These poll results disagree in a huge way with Spinelli’s assertion.
I have found some folks like to talk out of their butt. Leej mentioned her anecdotal experience w/ Medicare. Leej is an honest person, and I trust her implicitly. But, some folks like to shoot from the hip and say obtuse statements like people on Medicare like it. Well, there are MILLIONS OF PEOPLE on Medicare. But here are the most recent Gallup poll results from Jan of this year. Only 12% are very satisfied, and that’s one of the highest historically. Over the past decade the “very satisfied” numbers have been almost always single digit numbers. Again, the most recent poll has 30% somewhat satisfied. I guess that’s good enough for government work but no private company would stay in business long w/ those numbers.
BFM, I had a bad experience with an IUD called the Dalkon Shield, many years ago. They were taken off the market after many women ended up with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. The IUDs on the market are better now and a good alternative for women who don’t want to take the pill. I took the pill for many years after and inbetween having my four children. The pill worked well for me.
@Annie ” I had a bad experience with an IUD called the Dalkon Shield, many years ago.”
Thanks for your remarks. I have not found a rate for overall medical complications associated with their use. But I am sure somebody somewhere has a pretty good number on that.
I think, over the years, there have been two improvements. The first in the device for both safety and effectiveness. The second in criteria used to select women who might use them. Both are important. It does not matter how good the device is if it is not right for the woman.
And I am not aware of any method of birth control that is free of problems. Hormonal approaches are much improved over the past few decades but still present medical issue such a the possibility of blood clots and cancer.
Barrier methods might present the fewest medical problems but fail at a much higher rate which presents other risks.
The fact that this is a complex decision is one reason why is should be made by the woman in consultation with her doctor and based on her individual situation.