Supreme Court Justice Will Not Block Morning-After Pill Rule

A Supreme Court Justice denied a request by Hobby Lobby and Mardel Inc. that would block part of the Affordable Care Act, which requires employers to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill as well as other emergency contraception pills.

Hobby Lobby and Mardel, a sister company, both sued the government earlier this year, claiming that the mandate would violate their owners’ religious beliefs and freedoms, reports Yahoo! News.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor ruled on Wednesday to deny the request. In doing so, she stated that the stores have failed to satisfy the legal requirement to block the law on an emergency basis. Sotomayor added that the companies are still allowed to continue their challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s emergency contraception mandate in the lower courts.

Attorneys for the government have claimed that the morning-after pill, along with other emergency contraception, does not actually cause an abortion. This knowledge is different than what many Christians, and Christian organizations, believe.

Officials for the company have announced that they will now be forced to decide if they must violate their faith and provide insurance coverage for emergency contraception pills or if they will face a daily $1.3 million fine starting on January 1 if they choose to ignore the law, according to Komo News.

A ruling was also decided against the companies last month. US District Judge Joe Heaton ruled that “Hobby Lobby and Mardel are not religious organizations.” Therefore, they are not an exception to the rule laid out to keep churches and other religious organizations to have constitutional protection from the birth-control provision.

Do you think that Hobby Lobby and Mardel should be an exception to the rule requiring companies to provide health insurance coverage for emergency contraception including the morning-after pill.