SCOTUS decision a victory for religious liberty

It's fitting the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius came the week of July 4. The issue at hand, religious liberty, is one this country was founded on.

Hobby Lobby is a family-owned crafts company that operates more than 600 stores in 41 states. Other plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case included Mardel, a Christian bookstore chain owned by the Green family who operate Hobby Lobby, and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp., a company that makes wood cabinets, employs around 950 people and is owned by a Mennonite family.

The issue at hand was a mandate that employers cover all 20 FDA-approved contraceptives.

The Green family are Christians who object to abortion. While they are fine with covering 16 of the approved contraceptives, they, and others, consider four of the contraceptives as abortifacients. The company would be subjected to major fines for not complying with the mandate or lesser fines by dropping coverage.

The Supreme Court recognized this in the majority opinion.

"It requires the Hahns [owners of Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp.] and Greens to engage in conduct that seriously violates their sincere religious belief that life begins at conception. If they and their companies refuse to provide contraceptive coverage, they face severe economic consequences: about $475 million per year for Hobby Lobby, $33 million per year for Conestoga, and $15 million per year for Mardel. And if they drop coverage altogether, they could face penalties of roughly $26 million for Hobby Lobby, $1.8 million for Conestoga and $800,000 for Mardel."

The five justices ruled "closely held" for-profit businesses should not be forced to violate their religious beliefs on the contraception mandate. The court referenced the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act in its support of Hobby Lobby.

The majority opinion was written by Justice Samuel Alito and noted: "Protecting the free-exercise rights of closely held corporations thus protects the religious liberty of the humans who own and control them."

The Green family was bold in its efforts to stand by its faith convictions. There was significant risk for taking on the issue, and we applaud the family for standing firm.

Hobby Lobby is a good company that cares for its employees. According to the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty website, Hobby Lobby is closed most nights by 8 p.m. and on Sundays. Hourly wages are well above minimum wage for full- and part-time workers, and the owners generously give to charity.

While some demagogue the case and exaggerate what this means for contraceptive coverage, claims that are absurd, the fact remains: Hobby Lobby stood firm in their faith. For that, we applaud them.