The United States Supreme Court affirmed our nation’s historic understanding of religious liberty by providing an exception to the abortifacient mandate that was handed down by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the Affordable Care Act.
“This decision is a victory for religious believers from all faith traditions, and for our country as a whole. No one should be forced to violate their conscience in order to operate a business in America,” said Randall Wenger, Chief Counsel of the Independence Law Center.
The mandate requires employers to pay for drugs to which many Americans morally object. HHS made no accommodation whatsoever for businesses owned by people of deep religious conviction, such as Conestoga Wood Specialties of Lancaster County and Hobby Lobby of Oklahoma. The confiscatory fines proposed by the administration threatened to drive those who objected to the mandate out of business ownership entirely.
This ruling allows families like the Hahns of Conestoga Wood Specialties to continue running their businesses according to their values. “No one should have to choose between their faith and full participation in the life of our society. Today’s decision affirms this basic principle of a free society,” said attorney Charles W. Proctor, III.
Wenger added, “This case isn’t simply about contraception. Instead, if government could have forced Americans to violate their most deeply held convictions, no American, whatever their convictions, would have been free.”
