Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a key case that will test whether the Obama administration, through ObamaCare, can crush the religious rights of a private business. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is representing the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby craft stores, in Sebelius v Hobby Lobby. Unless the Court stops the Obama administration, the Greens will be forced to participate in a moral evil they oppose because of their deeply held religious beliefs. The Greens seek not to impose their views on others, but to practice what they believe — without the club of government power hanging over their lives. Meet the Greens and learn about their fight for religious freedom in this video.
Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. began out of founder David Green’s garage and has grown from one 300-square-foot store to more than 500 stores in 41 states, becoming one of the nation’s leading arts and crafts retailers.
Devout Christians, the Green family believes that “it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured.” Therefore, the Greens seek to honor God by “operating their company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.”
Believing their employees should have the opportunity to spend Sundays with their families, the company is closed on Sundays and only operates 66 hours per week. Indeed, the Greens strive to apply the Christian teachings on respect and fairness to their employees, increasing the pay of Hobby Lobby’s full- and part-time hourly workers for four years in a row. Full-time hourly workers now start at 90 percent above the federal minimum wage.
The Hobby Lobby success story is a true example of the American dream. Now the Greens want to live another American dream: that every American, including business owners like the Greens, should be free to live and do business according to their beliefs.
The HHS mandate requires the family-owned business to provide insurance coverage for the “morning after pill” and “week after pill” contrary to their religious convictions or pay fines to the IRS. The Greens believe that Hobby Lobby cannot fulfill its mission while paying for these drugs (the “morning after pill” and “week after pill”) that conflict with their beliefs. That is why on Wednesday, Sept. 12, Hobby Lobby filed suit in an effort to defend its constitutional freedom to carry out its mission in a way consistent with its owners’ religious principles.
The Green family has no moral objection to the use of 16 of 20 preventive contraceptives required in the mandate and will continue its longstanding practice of covering these preventive contraceptives for its employees. However, the Green family cannot provide or pay for four possible life-threatening drugs and devices. These drugs include Plan B and Ella, the so-called morning-after pill and the week-after pill. Covering these drugs and devices would violate their most deeply held religious belief that life begins at conception, when an egg is fertilized.
The Green family respects the religious convictions of all Americans, including those who do not agree with them. All they are asking is for the government to give them the same respect by not forcing them to violate their religious beliefs.
