Mandates under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly called ObamaCare, not only pits the conscience of the individual against the decrees of government, but could also mean 13,000 people will lose their jobs.
At the heart of the controversy is Hobby Lobby, a privately-owned retail store specializing in arts and crafts materials. In August of 2012, records show the company owned 550 stores in 45 states. The company’s corporate headquarters is in Oklahoma City, Ok.
Company founder David Green says provisions in the Affordable Care Act demand coverage for16 types of birth control. Green objects to three of these methods. Two are the “morning-after pill” and the “week-after pill.” The other is the intrauterine device (IUD).
Green, an evangelical Christian, believes human life begins at conception when the sperm and egg unite to produce an ovum, a fertilized egg. These three methods of birth control do not prevent conception. Instead, they prevent the fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall. Green contends these methods produce a form of abortion rather than contraception.
In a September 2012 op-ed piece, Green gave a little history of his company. He wrote:
“When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God’s word.
“We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our business in harmony with God's laws, and (2) to focus on people more than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on Sundays, one of the week's biggest shopping days, so that our workers and their families can enjoy a day of rest.”
Green says being required to follow these birth control mandates would force him to violate deeply held religious beliefs. If he continues to operate in violation of the law, his company faces $1.3 million in fines – each day.
In November 2012, Federal Judge Joe Heaton ruled the firm must comply with the law or face the fines. In his ruling, Judge Heaton wrote that while individual members of the family that owns the business have religious rights, companies that are secular and for-profit have no guarantee of religious liberties.
In June 2013, a circuit court of appeals reversed Judge Heaton’s ruling. In their ruling the circuit court wrote that in the Citizens United case, the high court recognized the First Amendment right of for-profit corporations. The appeals court also held that Hobby Lobby was likely to prevail before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Green’s attorneys are awaiting word on whether the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case.
But David Green and his family hold a trump card in this controversy. If the case does go before the U.S. Supreme Court and the court rules against Hobby Lobby or the high court refuses the case, then the family could close their stores – and 13,000 people will lose their jobs, jobs that at the entry level pay 80 percent above minimum wage.
The insurance coverage Hobby Lobby currently provides pays for an array of birth control measures – but it does not pay for methods that do not prevent conception.
The fundamental issue is whether government decree or First Amendment protections will prevail before the court. Does government have the authority to circumvent the guarantees of the U.S. Constitution by defining and limiting them in such a way that basic rights no longer exist except in the narrow scope of operation the government approves?
A ruling against Hobby Lobby is a loss for all of us.
Mike Parker is a columnist for The Free Press. You can reach him at mparker16@suddenlink.net or in care of this newspaper.