Tenth Circuit will hear Hobby Lobby birth control benefit appeal

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:42:00 +0000

The United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has granted Hobby Lobby's request for a full court hearing of its challenge to the birth control benefit requirement in the Affordable Care Act. And as Jodi Jacobson at RH Reality Check and Ian Millhiser at the Center for American Progress note, the nine-judge hearing may be an ominous sign.

So-called en banc hearings normally signal that a majority of the justices disagree with the original ruling, which in this case was the December 2012 court decision to reject Hobby Lobby's claim that constitutionally defined religious liberty empowers private employers to restrict their employee's access to birth control. On top of that, most of the appointees to the federal 10th Circuit are conservatives, which doesn't bode well for employee rights or access to birth control, Millhiser contends.

As Millhiser writes:

Supreme Court: Emergency contraception stays in Obamacare

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:04:00 +0000

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has denied a request to block part of the federal health care law that requires employee health-care plans to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraception pills.

Hobby Lobby Stores and a sister company, Mardel Inc., sued the government, claiming the mandate violates the religious beliefs of its owners.

In an opinion issued Wednesday, Sotomayor said the stores fail to satisfy the demanding legal standard for blocking the requirement on an emergency basis. She said the companies may continue their challenge to the regulations in the lower courts.

Company officials say they must decide whether to violate their faith or face a daily $1.3 million fine beginning Jan. 1 if they ignore the law.

Salon.com > Hobby Lobby

Tenth Circuit will hear Hobby Lobby birth control benefit appeal

Supreme Court: Emergency contraception stays in Obamacare