Jul 2, 2014 4 min read

There are so many things wrong with the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case it’s difficult to decide where to begin.

The high court ruled the other day, in a 5-4 decision, that Hobby Lobby and other closely held corporations are not bound by the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act if it violates their religious beliefs.

The Green family, Christians who own the massive arts-and-crafts company, contended certain contraceptive methods – two so-called Plan B pills and two intrauterine devices – were the equivalent of abortion. Doctors and researchers would tell you they’re wrong about that, but it didn’t seem to matter to the conservative majority on the court. As we know, on that side of the political spectrum, religion trumps science.

So, essentially, the same justices who determined a while back that corporations are people have now given some of those “people” special religious rights that allow them to ignore laws with which they disagree.

In a blistering dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stated, correctly in our view, the majority on the court had “ventured into a minefield.”

It’s not just a slippery slope. It’s a sheet of ice slathered in Crisco.

Under the court majority’s reasoning, there would seem to be little to stop other business owners from using their religion to opt out of any number of other drug coverages or procedures. For instance, a Jehovah’s Witness who shuns blood transfusions could refuse to cover that procedure for his employees. Want to vaccinate your kids? You might be digging into your own pocket if your boss is a devout Christian Scientist. The possibilities seem endless, and harmful to the overall public health.

We also agree with Ginsburg’s view that even if the court determined the contraception requirement was a burden to Hobby Lobby, fellow plaintiff Conestoga Wood Specialties and others, it is clear covering birth-control measures for women is “a compelling interest in public health and women’s well being.”

And we can only imagine what the reaction would have been if a case was brought by a Muslim business owner trying to put his beliefs before the health-care interests of his workers. Knuckleheads such as Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter would be screeching, “They’re trying to impose Sharia law!”

We also must note the level of hypocrisy on the part of Hobby Lobby borders on the astounding.

First, before the Greens decided to sue the government, some of the same contraceptives the company ended up challenging in court was covered under Hobby Lobby’s health plan, presumably without deleterious effect on the owners’ souls.

Second, according to a Mother Jones report, a few months after the company filed its suit, it submitted documents to the Department of Labor showing the Hobby Lobby retirement plan “held more than $73 million in mutual funds with investments in companies that produce emergency contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices and drugs commonly used in abortions.”

Third, Hobby Lobby buys quite a bit of cheap merchandise from China, which is known not only for borderline gulag labor conditions but also for abortions, which are a government service available on demand and sometimes forced on women. But by all means, look the other way. It’s better for business.

We also wonder whether the folks at Hobby Lobby realize that by denying contraceptive coverage to their employees, they actually are increasing the likelihood of abortions.

Don’t kid yourself into thinking this case was about morality and what Jesus would do. From the filing of the lawsuit to the decision by the five justices, it was politics, pure and simple.