In my last column I mentioned some of the outrageous false reactions to the Hobby Lobby ruling by left-wing groups and individuals. The false claims have continued and gotten so outrageous that they surely qualify as some sort of “post Hobby Lobby derangement syndrome.” Even the Washington Post is calling them out.
In a July 14 article entitled “Democrats on Hobby Lobby: ‘Misspeaks,’ ‘opinions,’ and overheated rhetoric,” Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler says that “Democrats have rushed to condemn the court. But in some cases the rhetoric has gotten way ahead of the facts.” Here are some of the outrageous statements called out by the Post:
“Really, we should be afraid of this court. The five guys who start determining what contraceptions are legal. Let’s not even go there.” — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), at her weekly news conference, on July 10.
“You know, what I am objecting to is that these bosses should not be able to tell their employees that they cannot use birth control. Motherhood is not a hobby. That is what I am objecting to.” —Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.), speaking on MSNBC, July 1.
“The U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision opened the door to unprecedented corporate intrusion into our private lives. Coloradans understand that women should never have to ask their bosses for a permission slip to access common forms of birth control.” — Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), in a news release, July 9.
As the Post’s “fact checker” pointed out in response to these false claims, “the majority opinion flatly states that ‘under our cases, women (and men) have a constitutional right to obtain contraceptives,’ citing the 1965 ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut, which under the right to privacy nullified a law prohibiting the use of contraceptives… No boss under this ruling has the right to tell an employee that they cannot use birth control.”
Sadly, the left wing’s reaction to Hobby Lobby goes beyond irresponsible and false rhetoric. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised “to do something about it” and fast-tracked a bill introduced by Senator Patty Murray (and 46 of her Democratic colleagues). Despite its euphemistic title, the “Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014” (S. 2578) “potentially attack[s] all federal laws protecting conscience rights” according to a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops letter sent to all U.S. senators and signed by Archbishop William Lori and Cardinal Sean O’Malley.
The passage of S. 2578 “would mark the first time in history that Congress has acted specifically to reduce Americans’ religious freedom”, the letter asserts, pointing out numerous aspects of the bill. For example, S. 2578 would “impose the HHS mandate on religious believers in ways that the Supreme Court says violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).”
Furthermore, the USCCB letter points out that S. 2578 would override other federal conscience protections, not just RFRA; applies to all present and future coverage mandates, not just contraception; applies to all employers, not just closely held for-profits; covers employees, their minor dependents, individuals purchasing coverage on the health exchanges, and other stakeholders, not just employers; and encourages employers to drop coverage through draconian penalties.
Thankfully, S. 2578 was defeated by a vote of 56 to 43 (60 votes were needed to proceed with the bill; Senators Mike Johanns and Deb Fischer voted no). However, it is deeply troubling that 56 members of the United States Senate voted for a bill that attacks religious freedom and conscience rights for women and men.
“In short,” Archbishop Lori and Cardinal O’Malley said in their letter, “the bill does not befit a nation committed to religious liberty. Indeed, if it were to pass, it would call that commitment into question. Nor does it show a genuine commitment to expanded healthcare coverage, as it would pressure many Americans of faith to stop providing or purchasing health coverage altogether.”
