At last, the Supreme Court has issued its much-anticipated ruling in the Hobby Lobby case. The Court, by the slimmest majority (5-4), ruled that the Obama Administration’s contraception/abortifacient/ sterilization insurance mandate violates the religious freedom of Hobby Lobby and other for-profit family-owned or “closely held corporations.”
Specifically, the Court determined that the mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a federal law that was enacted in 1993 by a nearly unanimous bi-partisan vote of Congress and was signed into law by then-president Bill Clinton.
The purpose of RFRA was to make it clear that the federal government could not “burden” the exercise of religion unless it had a “compelling interest” and utilized “the least restrictive means of furthering [that] compelling interest.”
In its ruling, the Court first rejected the Obama Administration’s argument that RFRA protections do not apply to for-profit businesses. “Under RFRA,” the Court stated, “when followers of a particular religion choose to enter into commercial activity, the Government does not have a free hand in imposing obligations that substantially burden their exercise of religion.”
Second, the ruling concluded that the mandate “substantially burdens the exercise of religion.” Third, the ruling assumes (but did not conclude) that the mandate furthers a compelling government interest but said that “the Government has failed to show that the contraceptive mandate is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.”
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty said in a statement:
“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to recognize that Americans can continue to follow their faith when they run a family business. In this case, justice has prevailed, with the Court respecting the rights of the Green and Hahn families to continue to abide by their faith in how they seek their livelihood, without facing devastating fines. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to build a culture that fully respects religious freedom.”
The response of left-wing groups and individuals has been apoplectic and demonstrably dishonest. They are accusing the Supreme Court of joining in on the phony “war on women” and are spreading lies such as saying this ruling demonstrates that men are taking away women’s rights—again.
Kristine Marsh, staff writer/analyst for the Media Research Center, wrote “[t]he easiest spin on the case was to frame the discussion away from religious rights, and make it a case of women’s rights. Feminists, liberal reporters, and even the White House got on the bandwagon for this one. The hashtag #NotMyBossesBusiness trended with the misleading message that employers were preventing their female employees from accessing birth control.”
This lie is easily dispatched with the facts of the Hobby Lobby case: Hobby Lobby has always provided coverage for contraception in its employee plan but objected (and sued) over the HHS mandate’s requirement that it also cover four emergency contraceptive methods that are more likely to operate as abortifacients.
These facts won’t stop misrepresentation of this ruling by those who want to quarantine religious freedom within the four walls of our nation’s churches. Therefore, as Princeton Professor Robert George warned, “Friends of religious freedom must respond swiftly and strongly to the claims and political machinations of their adversaries.”
“We must wield the sword of truth against the falsehoods and gross exaggerations that will become the currency of the other side’s attacks. Without resorting to their tactics, we must match their intensity and determination. Key elements of our religious freedom hang in the balance.”
In order to effectively “wield the sword of truth,” I urge Catholics to stay informed on this battle by joining my e-mail list (send your request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or by accessing these great websites: www.usccb.org/conscience and www.becketfund.org.
