Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton ruled that the craft store Hobby Lobby must cover the morning-after pill for its employees.
In September, the evangelical-owned Hobby Lobby and sister company Mardel Inc. filed a federal lawsuit against the 
Obama Administration over the mandate requiring employers to provide coverage for the morning-after pill and other contraceptives. Under the new mandate, companies who do not provide coverage for contraception can face fines of up to $1.3 million daily.
In his ruling, Judge Heaton said, “Plaintiffs have not cited, and the court has not found, any case concluding that secular, for-profit corporations such as Hobby Lobby and Mardel have a constitutional right to the free exercise of religion”.
Conversely, last week U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton granted a preliminary injunction for Tyndale Publishers, a Christian publishing company opposed to providing employees with contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act requirements. Meanwhile, the United Nations released a report declaring contraception a universal human right last week.
Media Resources: ABC News 11/20/12; Jezebel 11/19/12; Think Progress 11/19/12; Washington Post 11/19/12; Huffington Post 11/14/12; Feminist Newswire 9/13/12
Birth control pills photo from Shutterstock.
