Supreme Court Expected To Rule On Hobby Lobby Case

The Justices must decide on 17 cases by the end of this month. On that list is Oklahoma City based Hobby Lobby and its battle against Obamacare.

Monday, June 16th 2014, 7:37 pm

By: News 9


It's "crunch time" for the U.S. Supreme Court. The Justices must decide on 17 cases by the end of this month. On that list is Oklahoma City based Hobby Lobby and its battle against Obamacare.

Sebelious vs. Hobby Lobby has reached its tipping point. The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision no later than the end of next week. Depending on the decision, some fear a dangerous door could be opened.

"The choice the government has forced on us is unfair," said the Green family in late March.

Co-founders of Hobby Lobby, David and Barbara Green have been silent since this video message in late March.

"We believe that Americans do not lose their religious freedoms when they open a family business," said the Green's.

Sebelious vs. Hobby Lobby began when the Green family did not want to offer certain contraceptives to employees that are required by Obamacare, citing religious beliefs. The opposition sums it up in a question, "Is a corporation a person?"

"How do you figure out what those religious beliefs are? Do you ask the owners or do you ask the employees? Or do you ask shareholders?" said the ACLU's Brady Henderson.

The ACLU has filed a brief against Hobby Lobby, proactively defining what Brady Henderson calls, a dangerous door if the court rules in favor of the Oklahoma City based company.

"The way we do business to limit liability for business owners could start to disappear in a heartbeat," said Henderson.

"Other for-profits could come forward with other objections to other medical treatments," said Laurie Sobel.

Sobel, who's a senior policy analyst with the Kaiser Family Foundation, can list the possibilities as well. But does know that if Hobby Lobby wins, it would not have to provide the contraceptives it doesn't want to. If the decision goes to the government, Hobby Lobby will have two other options besides providing full coverage.

"Could pay a fine of $100 a day per enrollee in their plan or they could drop their insurance and pay a fee of $2000 per employee per year," said Sobel.

There is also a third option for the Supreme Court which is a "middle of the road" decision. The option would allow the court to rule in favor of the government only because Hobby Lobby is a for-profit organization. But the ACLU expects several religious groups to final cases if that decision is made.

Kaiser Health noted the core of the case is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which may have to be re-written to include or not include for-profit organizations.

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