Re: Hobby Lobby ruling?

I am still waiting for someone to explain what is going to happen, based on this opinion, when a "closely held" company--which can be huge, decides that it would violate its religious tenets to hire gay people (where that is unlawful) or black people? Or women who had children out of wedlock? Or women who have had abortions?

Hobby Lobby ruling?

Today the SCOTUS ruled in favor of YXZABC, a large for profit retail corporation owned by a family of Jehovah's Witnesses, allowing them to exclude coverage of blood transfusions and all transplants from its company provided health insurance.

Today the SCOTUS ruled in favor of YXZABC, a large for profit electronics manufacturing corporation owned by a Japanese Shintoist family , allowing them to exclude coverage of blood transfusions and some transplants from its company provided health insurance.

Today, the SCOTUS ruled in favor of XYZABC, a large private for profit education corporation owned by a family of Christian Scientists, exempting them from the ACA altogether based on their religious beliefs.


^^Still ok with this decision? Because if you change "Christian" to another religion and "Certain forms of birth control" to other treatments that are objected to by some religions, the above is what you get.

What we ultimately need is to stop tying health insurance to employment, so I do partially agree with SCOTUS here. In the same breath, employers shouldn't have a say what their employees believe in, so their health insurance, IF offered, should be religiously neutral.

ETA: I think people are focused way too much on the birth control portion, and less on the religious freedom portion. If this were any other religion (specifically, a non Christian religion or smaller sect) and any other treatment (blood transfusion or let's even say medications derived from pig/gelatin), it wouldn't be as polarizing since most people would expect that it would be covered. Can you imagine the outrage in the bible belt if a certain expensive chemo pill or other life saving medication was not covered because the non Christian employer's beliefs didn't allow for any gelatin coated medicine?

Message edited 7/2/2014 12:15:54 PM.