BURWELL v. HOBBY LOBBY STORES, INC., 134 S. Ct. 2751, 2782 (2014).
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
Facts: Hobby Lobby, Inc. is owned and operated by the Green family, who run their business based on principles of the Christian Faith. One of the many values of the Christian Faith is that the use of contraceptives is immoral and should not be legal. However, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act established that a list of predetermined conditions will be made more affordable and the quality of related healthcare shall increase regardless of race, sex, or monetary status. Items on the list of predetermined conditions included contraception methods, which went against Hobby Lobby’s core values. Hobby Lobby claimed that they should not be required, …show more content…
If the court would have decided in favor of the government, then Hobby Lobby would have been forced to pay a large lump sum of fines for not complying with the healthcare act. Also, it would have been established that a pro-profit organization does not have religious say that could exempt them from government laws and that these companies are not treated as ‘persons.’ Alternative Dispute Resolution would have been helpful in deciding this case because of the issue and the close result. The result came down to a 5-4 decision meaning that the decision was almost 50/50, but the alarming aspect is that the five justices who voted in favor of Hobby Lobby had republican affiliation while the other four had democratic affiliation. An outside opinion would have greatly helped to separate the anti-abortion republicans vs. the pro-abortion democrats. I do agree with the ruling of this case because I feel that if a company is established to be a Christian run company, the rights of the owners who established this company should not be violated. Regardless of whether the company is pro-profit or not, the owners still have values and morals in which they choose to run the company and these values should not be violated. These values are protected by the 1st Amendment because we, as citizens of the United States, have the freedom to own and operate our companies based on our religious