"In the face of mounting court losses, the Obama administration Wednesday abandoned its appeals in several abortion-pill mandate lawsuits. The surrender means that existing court orders which protect family businesses in those cases from violating their religious beliefs will stand while the lawsuits proceed," reports Alliance Defending Freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby in Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Burwell and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores appears to have prompted the Department of Justice to drop the appeals in The Seneca Hardwood Lumber Company v. Burwell, Armstrong v. Burwell, Briscoe v. Burwell, and the Hobby Lobby case itself. The U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 3rd and 10th Circuits granted the administration’s requests for withdrawal last week. Full news release, quotes, and related media resources available at http://www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/9295.
FamilyRestoration previously blogged about the Hobby Lobby case and how it protects women and their families at http://www.regentfamilyrestoration.blogspot.com/search?q=Hobby+Lobby and discussed the importance of this decision for family restoration. Women's rights activists are heard loudly on why abortion is so necessary for women's rights, but the Hobby Lobby ruling truly upholds a woman's right to choose her own contraceptive choice to protect herself and her family. Download "The Rise and Fall of Women's Rights" at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2007200 to better understand the connection between contraception and abortion and women's rights and liberty interests.
Not all women sense the desperation for employer payment for contraception. Indeed, the paradox of female happiness becomes more apparent in this context (see http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2001387 to read more about that phenomenon in the context of women’s rights and gender equality). Women are still free to purchase and use contraception as they choose, but it does not need to be forced upon them by the federal government through their employers.
The fact that the Department of Justice is no longer pursuing litigation against employers who have religious objections to contraceptives is very telling of the importance of the Hobby Lobby decision to strengthen women's rights and happiness while restoring families.
Praise The Lord!
ReplyDeleteThere was a surge in comments on my feed in face-book shortly following this decision with many claiming the Government was overtly supporting religion. It to me just exemplifies the very cornerstone of a capitalist society, the right of a business to make its own choices in determining how it will run, what health care plans it will offer, benefits, etc. As many of us learned in constitutional law, there is a careful balance to be struck on the part of the government to never establish religion but also to not stifle the free practice of it. This case is a perfect example of a time when the courts were called upon to decide whether they would require people to do something against their religious beliefs with their own private business or not, and I think the decision here was the right one, from both a moral and political standpoint.
ReplyDeleteTime will tell what the eventual impact of the Hobby Lobby decision will be. The Supreme Court limited the decision to the facts and circumstances but seemed to affirm closely-held company owner rights. However, while proponents of the Hobby Lobby decision are excited about the decision, some opponents are hopeful as well. For example, Dawn Laguens of Planned Parenthood sees the case as an opportunity to win upcoming elections. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dawn-laguens/ok-lets-talk-about-birth_b_5824054.html
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