Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg The implications of the Hobby Lobby Decision by the SCOTUS--- The exemption sought by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga would…deny legions of women who do not hold their employers beliefs access to contraceptive coverage Religious organizations exist to foster the interests of persons subscribing to the same religious faith. Not so of for-profit corporations. Workers who sustain the operations of those corporations commonly are not drawn from one religious community. Any decision to use contraceptives made by a woman covered under Hobby Lobbys or Conestogas plan will not be propelled by the Government, it will be the womans autonomous choice, informed by the physician she consults. It bears note in this regard that the cost of an IUD is nearly equivalent to a months full-time pay for workers earning the minimum wage. Would the exemption…extend to employers with religiously grounded objections to blood transfusions (Jehovahs Witnesses); antidepressants (Scientologists); medications derived from pigs, including anesthesia, intravenous fluids, and pills coated with gelatin (certain Muslims, Jews, and Hindus); and vaccinations[?]…Not much help there for the lower courts bound by todays decision. Approving some religious claims while deeming others unworthy of accommodation could be perceived as favoring one religion over another, the very risk the [Constitutions] Establishment Clause was designed to preclude. The court, I fear, has ventured into a minefield.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 01:51:02 +0000