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Reaction to Court Ruling Divides on Partisan Lines
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The two U.S. senators who represent Ohio offered sharply differing views on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Burwell, test cases in which the high court rejected contraceptives mandate for certain corporations.
The high court’s justices split 5-4 in the decision, with the conservative majority ruling that privately held corporations such as Hobby Lobby and Conestoga cannot be forced to provide contraceptive coverage, as provided for in a provision of the Affordable Care Act. Hobby Lobby, which has stores in Boardman and Niles, and Conestoga objected to providing coverage for certain forms of birth control required under ACA because it conflicted with their religious convictions.
"Any suggestion that for-profit corporations are incapable of exercising religion because their purpose is simply to make money flies in the face of modern corporate law," Alito wrote for the court’s five-justice majority.
In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, "In a decision of startling breadth, the Court holds that commercial enterprises, including corporations, along with partnerships and sole proprietorships, can opt out of any law (saving only tax laws) they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs."
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said the ruling opens the door for closely held corporations to make personal health-care decisions for their employees.
“Health-care decisions should be made by women and their doctors -- not by their bosses. This court’s deference to corporations is once again all too apparent, and I’m disappointed that the Supreme Court opened the door so that corporations can make personal health-care decisions for their employees,” Brown said. “We must work to ensure that all employees affected by today’s decision maintain cost-free access to women’s health care. If religious freedom is to mean anything, Americans must be able to have their own beliefs, rather than their employers’ beliefs imposed upon them. Corporations are not people.”
In a separate statement, Brown also criticized the high court’s decision in Harris v. Quinn, in which it ruled that partial public employees could opt out of joining a union and not be required to pay dues to the union.
“While today’s decision was narrow, it represents a pernicious attack on working people by corporate special interests and their allies in Congress and on the bench,” Brown remarked. “We know that the ability of workers to collectively bargain for fair wages and benefits -- along with safe working conditions and necessary equipment -- helped strengthen our nation and build our middle class. Aides working in the state of Illinois’ home health care system deserve the same protections as other public sector workers, and I’m disappointed that the Supreme Court ruled otherwise.”
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who had signed an amicus brief in the Hobby Lobby case, hailed the Supreme Court ruling as an affirmation of the nation’s “commitment to religious freedom” in a statement issued by his office.
“The government should not force citizens to violate their religious beliefs in order to operate a business, and Obamacare's contraception mandate infringes upon religious liberties. I am pleased that the Court has ruled that the mandate is unlawful,” Portman said.
Portman also cosponsored the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011, which would have allowed a health plan to decline to cover specific items and services that violate the religious or moral beliefs of the person or organization offering or purchasing the plan, and raised concerns about the ACA's effect on religious liberties in a February 2012 letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. In his letter, Portman explained, consistent with the court's ruling Monday, that the ACA's contraception mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
The three congressmen who represent the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys also split along party lines on the Hobby Lobby decision.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13 Howland, said he is “disheartened” to hear that the court chose “to stand against decades of progress by women,” in a statement released by his office.
“No woman should have to choose between necessary health care and having to pay their bills. This ruling will place many Americans in a difficult situation because of their employers’ ability to force their religious beliefs upon them and it will lead to an increase in unplanned pregnancies,” he said
“Today’s ruling against women’s rights not only turns back the clock, but also ushers in a new era of uncertainty,” he continued. “Allowing privately-owned corporations the ability to push their religious beliefs onto their employees opens the gate to possible injustices yet to be realized.”
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-6 Ohio, called the court’s decision “an important first step at chipping away at this ruinous law that was forced on the American people.” Johnson, who also signed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs, said the court’s opinion was “a significant win for those who believe in religious freedom and liberty.
“However, Congress must continue to work to repeal this onerous health care law, and replace it with common sense, patient-centered solutions that will lift the veil of uncertainty from small businesses so they can hire and expand, reduce the cost of health care with increased competition and better care, put Americans in charge of their health-care decisions rather than unelected and unaccountable government bureaucrats, and protect America’s seniors,” Johnson said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3 Pa., also agreed with the court’s ruling on the contraception mandate. Kelly is a co-sponsor of the Health Care Conscience Rights Act, which would amend the Affordable Care Act to protect rights of conscience with regard to requirements for coverage of specific items and services. In February 2012 he co-signed a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius seeking a suspension of the contraceptive mandate and later that year signed 12 amicus briefs submitted by the American Center for Law and justice on behalf of religious organizations challenging the bill.
“The highest court in our land has spoken loud and clear: the core religious freedoms of the American people are not subordinate to this president or his disastrous health care law. With this monumental ruling, religious liberty prevails and Obamacare’s oppressive mandate loses,” Kelly said.
“No government program or politician must ever be permitted to punish an American citizen for following his or her faith. Freedom of conscience -- without government-imposed consequence -- is not a Republican right or a Democrat right but an ironclad American right,” he continued. “Today’s decision should serve as a permanent reminder that our Bill of Rights is not negotiable and that the God-given liberty of the American people will never be taken without a fight.”
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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