Hobby Lobby is in a federal appeals court, today, hoping to get an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes contraception and the morning-after pill.

The unpopular healthcare mandate forces Americans of faith to cover medical services that violate their consciences without regard for their First Amendment's rights.

Fox News reports:

The Oklahoma City-based arts-and-crafts chain argues that businesses -- not just the currently exempted religious groups -- should be allowed to seek exception from that part of the health law if it violates their religious beliefs.

"They ought to be able -- just like a church, just like a charity -- to have the right to opt out of a provision that infringes on their religious beliefs," said Kyle Duncan, who will argue before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the Green family, the founders of Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. and a sister company, Christian booksellers Mardel Inc.

The Greens contend that emergency contraception is tantamount to abortion because it can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb. They also object to providing coverage for certain kinds of intrauterine devices.

Lower courts have rejected Hobby Lobby's claim, saying that for-profit businesses aren't covered by an exemption added to the law for religious organizations. That exemption applies to churches themselves, but not to affiliated nonprofit corporations, like hospitals, that do not rely primarily on members of the faith as employees.

In a decision issued late last year, a federal judge concluded simply, "Hobby Lobby and Mardel are not religious organizations."

But U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton in Oklahoma City also wrote that "the court is not unsympathetic" to Hobby Lobby's dilemma and that the question of compelling employer health coverage for certain procedures "involves largely uncharted waters."

Hobby Lobby is the most prominent of many businesses challenging the HHS Mandate, and it is the first to be heard by a federal appeals court. Arguing the administration's case, will be the U.S. Department of Justice.

The case is before the 10th Circuit and is being heard by all nine judges, instead of the typical three-judge panel, signifying the case's importance.

Last month, the Knights of Columbus filed formal comments with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services calling on the Administration to rescind the HHS mandate.
The letter, signed by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, urges "the administration to rescind the mandate altogether and chart a new course." It adds: "lf, however, the administration refuses to do so, we urge it to expand the religious exemption so that objecting individuals and organizations do not lose their conscience rights and are not forced to cooperate in actions that genuinely violate their religious beliefs and moral convictions. Our nation's history of bipartisan respect for the consciences of its citizens instructs us to do no less."

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/...als-Court-Today

May the Lord be with them, they are literally battling for their corporate life today!

thanks for posting

If Hobby Lobby is forced to go against their religious belief, then they need to investigate every exemption allowed to every company.
We might be surprised if it doesn't turn out to be partisan, also.