Earlier this year, I covered the story of the buycott is support of Hobby Lobby.
Over 60,000 Americans including myself bought items in support of an important legal case initiated by owner David Green.
The firm, which sells arts and crafts supplies, filed a lawsuit against the Health and Human Services contraceptive mandate that requires it to cover contraception, sterilization and abortifacients in their employees’ health care. Green is an evangelical Christian who is angry over the birth control mandate, which run counter to his religious beliefs.
Subsequently, in July the firm won an injunction against the implementation of this portion of the “Affordable Care Act” legislation.
A federal judge has temporarily exempted Hobby Lobby Stores Inc from a requirement in the 2010 healthcare law that it offer workers insurance coverage for birth control, which the retailer said violated its religious beliefs.The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton in Oklahoma City, where Hobby Lobby is based, covers the arts and crafts chain and its affiliated Mardel Christian bookstore chain.He put the case on hold until Oct. 1, giving the federal government time to decide whether to appeal a June 27 decision by a federal appeals court in Denver to let Hobby Lobby challenge the mandate on religious grounds.
That lawsuit and others likely will end up in the Supreme Court.
It’s nice to see a non-union entity get an exemption, at least for now, but I digress.
Some of the commentary to Green’s stance show a complete ignorance of free market principles blended with a heady doses of progressive condescension. This Comment is a perfect example:
I am sad to hear you don’t care about your employees. You are willing to close your business for this instead of offering your employees health care benefits? Do your employees know you make business decisions based on your religion in that you want to control their life? Don’t you have health care that offers the morning pill/contraception? Is this more because you don’t want your profit margins to be reduce?
It turns out that Hobby Lobby provides generous health care benefits to its employees, including birth control. But the government mandate is trying to force the company cover two drugs that the company’s owners reasonably believe can cause early abortions. Furthermore, employees of the store are probably informed of the owner’s views, which are quite public:
At Hobby Lobby, we value our customers and employees and are committed to:
- Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles…..
- Providing a return on the owner’s investment, sharing the Lord’s blessings with our employees, and investing in our community.
So, people who agree to employment at the store have a good idea that the business is run under a certain set of principles. If that isn’t a good match, then they can find employment elsewhere.
Well, given in the most recent employment numbers, maybe not. But that isn’t really Green’s fault either.
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