As the fight over the Affordable Care Act continues in Congress, Democrats and Republicans have kept arguing about small individual healthcare mandates such as making employers provide contraceptives to their employees.
Some religious Republicans argue that the healthcare contraceptive mandate deprives some businesses of their religious freedoms.
Hobby Lobby is a noteworthy business fighting the healthcare contraceptive mandate.
According to a ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, Hobby Lobby will not be charged any fines for not providing contraceptives until its arguments are heard in court.
Many of the arguments stem from the Free Exercise clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The First Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The first portion of the line, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” is the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The Establishment Clause allows individuals to practice any religion they desire, so long as their beliefs do not supersede or impose on the religious freedoms of others.
The Treaty of Tripoli of 1797 further supported the U.S. as a country maintaining a separation of church and state.
The treaty said that “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
With respect to contraceptive coverage, this separation of church and state is maintained in the healthcare mandate.
The new healthcare reform provides exemptions for churches and purely religious employers.
Hobby Lobby, however, serves a wide variety of customers from different faiths.
It has much more public interest than a company that prints religious texts does.
Many U.S. employees may object to contraceptive coverage because of religious beliefs, but there is nothing in the healthcare mandate forcing them to accept the contraceptives.
Hobby Lobby cannot religiously discriminate against its own employees who wish to have healthcare coverage.
Healthcare coverage will be provided to millions of other Americans under the Affordable Care Act.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, color, sex or national origin.
Hobby Lobby does not fall under the “bona fide occupational qualifications” defense which exempts certain businesses from adhering to Title VII.
Exempting Hobby Lobby from the healthcare mandate would ultimately discriminate against employees who do not share the same religious views as their company’s.
If the Supreme Court hears the case and reaches a decision on the matter in June 2014, it should rule in favor of the religious freedom of Hobby Lobby employees and uphold the healthcare mandate with regard to contraceptive coverage.
Nicolas Rodriguez is a senior political science major and an assistant opinions editor at the Daily 49er.
