AFTER HOBBY LOBBY by Penna Dexter

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case protected religious liberty for corporations owned by Christians. It prompted some immediate, and significant actions.

Within hours of announcing its decision granting Hobby Lobby, and other closely held corporations, an exemption from ObamaCare’s Contraceptive/Abortifacient Mandate, the Supreme Court granted Wheaton College a temporary stay in its lawsuit against the mandate. Wheaton is one of 100 schools, businesses, and organizations — 51 of them non-profit — that have sued the Obama administration over the requirement that employers provide health benefits that include all prescription contraceptives, even the kind that act by causing abortions. Although this does not necessarily mean the Court will ultimately protect the religious liberty of these groups, it’s a good sign.

The three female justices on the court dissented. At that point “War on Women – Part 2, targeting the 2014 elections, began.

So, in the immediate aftermath of the Hobby Lobby ruling, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared he’ll pursue legislation to overturn the decision. This is not a great campaign strategy. It may attract the votes of women who want the government to pay for consequence-free recreational sex. But it’s a clear attack on people’s ability to live out their faith.

Senator Patty Murray from the state of Washington and Senator Mark Udall of Colorado have introduced the bill which states that mandates in ObamaCare would not be subject to protection from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, RFRA. So families like the Greens, the strong Christians who own Hobby Lobby, would be forced to provide coverage of abortion-inducing contraceptives. And to do other things that perhaps violate their faith. Under Murray’s and Udall’s bill, these companies would be prohibited from seeking relief under RFRA. National Review’s Ed Whelan calls this the “Religious Freedom Deprivation Bill.”

Another interesting reaction to Hobby Lobby, came from some major homosexual groups who withdrew their support for ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. They’ve been pushing this bill for 2 decades. It’s designed to make those who practice homosexual and transgendered behavior a protected class. ENDA would punish employers whom the government deems not supportive of open homosexuality in their hiring and promotion practices.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights pulled their support. Since the Hobby Lobby decision gave religious employers a clear exemption from the HHS mandate, they worry that ENDA will be neutralized because too many organizations will successfully claim religious exemptions, leaving too many LGBT workers “without protection.”

The Supreme Court certainly provided a victory for religious freedom in its decision in the Hobby Lobby case. But it has stirred up a battle. RedState’s blogger, Streiff, wrote: “The left cannot leave people of faith alone, they must beat them into submission otherwise their entire program is in jeopardy.

The Hobby Lobby ruling was a victory in one battle in a long campaign.

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