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| US businesses can object to health insurance coverage of birth control, Supreme Court rules | US businesses can object to health insurance coverage of birth control, Supreme Court rules |
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| Business owners can object on religious grounds to a provision of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law that requires companies to provide health insurance that covers birth control, the US Supreme Court ruled on Monday. | Business owners can object on religious grounds to a provision of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law that requires companies to provide health insurance that covers birth control, the US Supreme Court ruled on Monday. |
| The decision means their employees will have to obtain certain forms of birth control from other sources. | The decision means their employees will have to obtain certain forms of birth control from other sources. |
| White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that women should make personal health decisions for themselves. | White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that women should make personal health decisions for themselves. |
| Earnest said the White House is looking into how many women could be affected by the decision. He said Congress should take action to assist women affected by the decision. | Earnest said the White House is looking into how many women could be affected by the decision. He said Congress should take action to assist women affected by the decision. |
| The contraceptive coverage requirement is contained in Obama's new health care law. | The contraceptive coverage requirement is contained in Obama's new health care law. |
| The court's 5-4 decision means the Obama administration must find alternative ways of providing free contraception to women who are covered under objecting companies' health insurance plans. | The court's 5-4 decision means the Obama administration must find alternative ways of providing free contraception to women who are covered under objecting companies' health insurance plans. |
| What was the Hobby Lobby’s problem exactly? | |
| Under Obamacare all companies over a certain size are obligated to offer health insurance to all their employees and, as part of it, coverage for birth control. Hobby Lobby, owned by an evangelical husband and wife, contended that that violated their religious freedoms. The court, with a small conservative majority, agreed. | |
| This only deals with a small sliver of the law and its implementation. The vast majority of companies still won’t be thinking twice about offering contraceptive coverage to employees. And there should be ways to ensure that employees of places like Hobby Lobby have coverage for birth control without their bosses getting the bill. | |
| This is the first time that corporations have been deemed, under federal law, to have faith. There is a danger that this will trigger an avalanche of companies wanting to use alleged religious faith as an excuse to escape their Obamacare obligations. For many, the religious zeal of Hobby Lobby’s owners is almost beside the point. This is just a new opening for conservative Obama-haters to undermine the healthcare law, Mr Obama and his legacy. | |
| AP | AP |