Tulsa Protestors Rally Against Hobby Lobby, Supreme Court Decision

Protesters believe the U.S. Supreme Court has set a dangerous precedent, which will affect what choices women can make about health care.

Saturday, July 5th 2014, 5:25 pm

By: News On 6


More than 60 protestors rallied on Saturday outside a midtown Tulsa Hobby Lobby store.

This comes days after a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled in favor of the Oklahoma-based company that doesn't want to provide some contraceptives based on shareholders' religious beliefs.

Protesters believe the Supreme Court is setting a dangerous precedent, which will affect what choices women can make about health care.

"The issues that we're screaming about today, we were screaming about in the ‘60s," former longtime state legislator Judy Eason McIntyre said. "We're going backwards, but women are not going to let that happen."

6/30/2014 Related Story: Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Hobby Lobby In Contraception Case

Attorneys for Hobby Lobby petitioned the court, arguing the Affordable Care Act's mandate to provide for birth control violates the owners' religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby owners believe it infringes upon their religious freedoms because the ACA requires coverage for drugs like intrauterine devices and the "morning-after pill," which Hobby Lobby executives claim prevents an already fertilized egg from implanting in the womb.

"I'm for Hobby Lobby and everything they stand for," Martha Henderson said.

Henderson saw the protestors today and wanted to show her support for court's decision.

She believes the decision is not a women's health issue.

"It's a religious freedom and it's a human freedom," Henderson said. "It has nothing to do with women's health. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with women's selfishness. They're being very selfish that 'their bodies belong to them.' Well, they can make the decision to do [things with their bodies], but I don't think that it's anybody else's responsibility to take care of something that they have done."

Eason McIntyre believes the ruling makes women second-class citizens and limits health care choices for them.

"I think it's a lot of things all balled into one," she said. "It is a bad decision against women, it's a bully decision against women."

Companies like Hobby Lobby shouldn't be responsible for providing contraceptives in health care plans, Henderson said.

"It's not really their responsibility to provide birth control... I mean, that's somebody... it's ridiculous," she said.

Police observed the protest to make sure nothing got out of control.

"If women do not protest, we're going to be barefoot and pregnant in the 21st Century," Eason McIntyre said.

Oklahoma's Attorney General said the court's ruling is a victory for religious freedom and the First Amendment.

Supreme Court opinion [BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL. v. HOBBY LOBBY STORES, INC]

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