Justices: Can’t Make Employers Cover Contraception

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says corporations can hold religious objections that allow them to opt out of the new health law requirement that they cover contraceptives for women.

The justices' 5-4 decision Monday is the first time that the high court has ruled that profit-seeking businesses can hold religious views under federal law. And it means the Obama administration must search for a different way of providing free contraception to women who are covered under objecting companies' health insurance plans.

Contraception is among a range of preventive services that must be provided at no extra charge under the health care law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010 and the Supreme Court upheld two years later.

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Governor Bobby Jindal issues the following statement about the Court's decision:

“With today's Hobby Lobby decision rejecting the arguments of President Obama's administration and affirming the rights of families to conduct their business according to their faith, the Supreme Court formally recognized what the overwhelming majority of Americans already know to be true: that religious liberty is a good thing.

Our country was founded by individuals who wanted to live according to their faith every day of their lives, and not merely have their faith confined to the pew. For those of us who believe, as the Green family does, in an Almighty God who created the universe and loves us personally, our faith guides us every day: in what we will do, and in what we will not do.

What this decision affirms is that the American belief in freedom of religion still protects the rights of all Americans to live in accordance with their religion, and that these deeply held religious beliefs are more important than the whims and demands of government.

The Court has made clear today that the Obama administration's assault on religious freedom in this case went too far - but this assault will not stop, in our courts, in our schools, and in the halls of power. It will take believers who are willing to risk their fortunes and public ridicule and the modern slings and arrows to stand up for what's right.

For their courage, I thank the Green family for what they have done to protect the rights of all believers to live according to their faith in the public square. Today, I urge all believers to pray for them and for the future of our nation. Remembering Paul's letter to the Corinthians, let us be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, and let all we do be done in love.”