Religiously affiliated or “closely held” corporations are now exempt from providing contraceptive coverage to their employees. The Supreme Court’s divided 5-4 decision has altered women’s health care coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as well as changed how corporate powers are viewed by legislators.
The Supreme Court just ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius. These are both for-profit companies that have federal group-shared healthcare plans. These plans offer contraceptive coverage for women, including FDA-approved birth control like pills, diaphragms, injections and implants, emergency contraceptive drugs, and intrauterine devices (IUDs). The CEOs believe these requirements are infringing on their right to exercise their religious beliefs, one being that life begins at the fertilization of an egg in the womb.
As of February 2013, religiously affiliated nonprofits and faith based organizations of worship were exempt from providing contraceptive coverage in their healthcare plans to employees. The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga cases essentially asked the question of whether or not a for-profit corporation could take federal healthcare benefits away from it’s employees on the grounds of religious practices and beliefs. The companies used the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to make these claims. The Health and Human Services Department focused their argument on the fact that these companies are in the business to sell products to consumers. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects persons who are engaged in the “exercise of religion,” not people trying to make money (HL Writ Pg. 23, Pew Research Center).
The major issue the court decided is if “personhood” could be applied to companies in this situation. Previously the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Committee that a company can act as a “person” and exercise their First Amendment right to freedom of speech in the political arena. Throughout the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. cases, both companies argued that their employees should be viewed as “persons exercising religion” (HL Writ. Pg. 24A) and the requiring this specific healthcare coverage could also be inhibiting their freedom of speech (C Writ. Pg. 13).
If the court had ruled in favor of the Department of Health and Human Services, it would have ended all “religious liberty-based” challenges to contraception coverage by companies and other claims made by businesses under the RFRA.
So, what exactly does this decision mean for Americans?
Allowing for-profit companies to pick and choose what their group federal healthcare plan offers to employees is detrimental to women’s health. By giving companies the right to decide if they want to cover contraception, a gap may form in women’s healthcare options. In a way, this could also allow companies to push a religion onto their employees since they are essentially deciding what treatments they can receive based on the CEO’s belief system. For-profit institutions are now essentially taking away treatment options from their female workers, which creates more tension and inequality for women in the workforce.
This doesn’t only hurt women. Even though the Supreme Court ruled that ACA was constitutional a few years ago, this current decision may be used to take away other health benefits if shareholders’ fundamental beliefs don’t support certain treatments. The Supreme Court made it clear that companies could not use religion as reasoning for discrimination, but giving this type of liberty to the RFRA could backfire. This divided decision applies to 90 percent of all American businesses, since they are considered “closely held.” Now workers, such as people who are LGBTQ, single parents or pregnant women, at risk.
Religious people who do not agree with this ruling are also affected. Multiple amicus curiae briefs were sent to the court on behalf of religious organizations that were against the corporations’ stance on contraceptive coverage. The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. decision is not a “win” for the pro-life or religious liberty movement. Instead some ideologies are clearly being favored over others and are being pushed onto millions of people, inevitably lessening the rights of approximately 52 percent of American employees.
It does not matter who you are or what your religious preference is. There is one thing that is certain: corporations now have religious rights like every other person in this country. Your right to take care of your own body, believe what you want and to freely seek employment are now entangled with shareholders’ ideologies. Everyone’s rights are in jeopardy.
