I received this story much earlier today but somehow overlooked it. This is some very sad news.

A federal appeals court ruled today that the Obama administration can force the Christian-owned-and-operated business [Hobby Lobby] to obey the HHS mandate that compels it to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions for its employees.

Apparently in the opinion of the 10th Circuit the 1st Amendment means nothing. “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,” the ruling said.

As of now Hobby Lobby is between a rock and a hard place. Duncan [Hobby Lobby's lead counsel] said the onerous provisions of the HHS mandate “will hit Hobby Lobby in about two months — on January 1, 2013. At that point, it will face the choice of dropping employee health insurance altogether (and paying about $26 million a year in penalties), or continuing its current plan (which will expose it to about $1.3 million in fines per day). So it is not hard to imagine why the Greens [Christian family who own Hobby Lobby] felt they had no choice but to go to court.”

The 10th is not the last word. There are now conflicting decisions at the appellate level. This will have to go to the SC eventually.
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/12/20/appea...ey-hhs-mandate/

Hobby Lobby should announce it is closing it's doors or limited hours until this is resolved in the SCOTUS.
Since it is not a layoff, or is it a ceasing of business, the employees would not be eligble for any benefits.

I know that is a hard thing to do, but the outcry would be loud enough for Oblunder to grant the waiver.

I know a woman who works at Hobby Lobby. I'm not close to her at all.

I can imagine how all of this is swirling around in her head, though. She wants the healthcare. She's older. Birth control is probably not a hot-button issue in her life because of her age. She may be thinking that the birth control issue isn't a big deal. I know she needs the paycheck.

She may be thinking that she needs the healthcare more than she needs to stand up for her religious or moral convictions. I really don't know.

But I wonder how people really feel about this. Do they feel conflicted? Or do they let others do the thinking for them?

This is the gamble that Obama is betting on.

The problem here is that Muslims, Amish, etc., are all exempt from the HHS laws.
Why not a Christian? If these examples were mentioned, what would be the outcome?

How can Obama force one religion to comply and give the others a pass? No one seems to have an answer to this question.

Hobby Lobby, and freedom of religion, turned away by Obama appointee Sotomayor.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejected a request for an emergency injunction that would have shielded employers from the mandate.

The request was filed by Hobby Lobby, an arts-and-crafts chain. The company's Catholic owners say the contraception mandate violates their religious freedom.

This is not the final word on the issue but it might indicate how an Obama lackey may rule when the full court takes up the case.

Brevity may be correct when he says, Hobby Lobby should announce it is closing it's doors or limited hours until this is resolved in the SCOTUS.

Quote: Olivia wrote in post #5

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The problem here is that Muslims, Amish, etc., are all exempt from the HHS laws.
Why not a Christian? If these examples were mentioned, what would be the outcome?

How can Obama force one religion to comply and give the others a pass? No one seems to have an answer to this question.

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Laura Ingraham pointed out, in a previous case Sotomayor ruled for a Muslim inmate who was denied Ramadan meals. In Ford v. McGinnis, 352 F.3d 582 (2d Cir. 2003), Sotomayor wrote an opinion that reversed a district court decision holding that a Muslim inmate’s First Amendment rights had not been violated because the holiday feast that he was denied was not a mandatory one in Islam. Sotomayor held that the inmate’s First Amendment’s rights were violated because the feast was subjectively important to the inmate’s practice of Islam.

Yesterday I also saw video of Sotomayor at her confirmation hearings where she was extolling her commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Lying leftist biatch.

Hobby Lobby to act in defiance of His Majesty's rulings.

An attorney for Hobby Lobby Stores said Thursday that the arts and crafts chain plans to defy a federal mandate requiring it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill, despite risking potential fines of up to $1.3 million per day...

The companies claim the mandate violates the religious beliefs of their owners. They say the morning-after pill is tantamount to abortion because it can prevent a fertilized egg from becoming implanted in a woman's womb...

Kyle Duncan, who is representing Hobby Lobby on behalf of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said in a statement posted on the group's website Thursday that Hobby Lobby doesn't intend to offer its employees insurance that would cover the drug while its lawsuit is pending.

"The company will continue to provide health insurance to all qualified employees," Duncan said. "To remain true to their faith, it is not their intention, as a company, to pay for abortion-inducing drugs."


God bless and protect them. They are standing up for freedom of conscience in the age of King Obama where it is not permitted.
http://www.newser.com/article/da3ee7s01/...ts-pending.html

Quote: Cincinnatus wrote in post #9

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Hobby Lobby to act in defiance of His Majesty's rulings.

An attorney for Hobby Lobby Stores said Thursday that the arts and crafts chain plans to defy a federal mandate requiring it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill, despite risking potential fines of up to $1.3 million per day...

The companies claim the mandate violates the religious beliefs of their owners. They say the morning-after pill is tantamount to abortion because it can prevent a fertilized egg from becoming implanted in a woman's womb...

Kyle Duncan, who is representing Hobby Lobby on behalf of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said in a statement posted on the group's website Thursday that Hobby Lobby doesn't intend to offer its employees insurance that would cover the drug while its lawsuit is pending.

"The company will continue to provide health insurance to all qualified employees," Duncan said. "To remain true to their faith, it is not their intention, as a company, to pay for abortion-inducing drugs."


God bless and protect them. They are standing up for freedom of conscience in the age of King Obama where it is not permitted.
http://www.newser.com/article/da3ee7s01/...ts-pending.html

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Good news: The Seventh Circuit Blocks the HHS Mandate for a Private Business

The ruling wasn't for Hobby Lobby but by extension they benefit as do all businesses which don't want to subsidize the murder of the innocents. Moreover, in its decision the 7th gave the 10th a needed lesson in Constitutional principles.

On an interlocutory appeal from the district court¡¯s denial of a preliminary injunction, the Tenth Circuit denied an injunction pending appeal, noting that ¡°the particular burden of which plaintiffs complain is that funds, which plaintiffs will contribute to a group health plan, might, after a series of independent decisions by health care providers and patients covered by [the corporate] plan, subsidize someone else¡¯s participation in an activity condemned by plaintiff[s¡¯] religion.¡± Id. at 7 (quoting Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, 870 F. Supp. 2d 1278, 1294 (W.D. Okla. 2012)). With respect, we think this misunderstands the substance of the claim. The religious©\liberty violation at issue here inheres in the coerced coverage of contraception, abortifacients, sterilization, and related services, not¡ªor perhaps more precisely, not only¡ªin the later purchase or use of contraception or related services

Blessings on the American Center for Law and Justice for bringing the suit and on the justices of the 7th circuit for taking the side of the 1st Amendment.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/336...s-david-french#

Another court victory:

DETROIT (AP) -- A federal judge has ruled a property management company owned by the founder of Domino's Pizza doesn't have to immediately implement mandatory contraception coverage in the health care law.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff ruled Sunday in favor of Tom Monaghan and his Domino's Farms Corp., near Ann Arbor. Monaghan, a devout Roman Catholic, says contraception isn't health care but a "gravely immoral" practice.

Zatkoff granted Monaghan's emergency motion for a temporary restraining order until a final decision is made in the case. The mandate would have taken effect Tuesday.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/U...-12-31-13-34-01

I saw where some ditzy Leftists were calling for a boycott of Dominos because of Monaghan's outspoken opposition to His Majesty's mandate. Sadly, no one bothered to tell them that Monaghan had sold his interest in the pizza company in 1998 and has no direct role in its operations any more.