Cautious Optimism in the Wake of Today’s Hobby Lobby Hearing
Posted by Matt Yonke (March 25, 2014 at 4:13 pm)
Today the Supreme Court heard the Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood v. Sebelius cases, which challenge President Obama’s HHS Contraceptive Mandate. You can read the transcript of today’s hearing here [PDF].
These cases stand to overturn the Mandate with decisions in favor of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga.
Supporters of religious freedom rallied outside the Supreme Court, and Stand Up for Religious Freedom co-director Eric Scheidler spoke at the rally [pictured above] along with such notables as Senator Ted Cruz and Live Action’s Lila Rose.
Reports coming out in the wake of this morning’s hearing point to cautious optimism for a Hobby Lobby victory. LifeNews.com reports several sources predicting a Hobby Lobby victory, and an article by Ian Millhiser on the liberal news site ThinkProgress.org reported similar sentiments.
In fact, Millhiser closed with this:
As I left the Supreme Court building, I ran into one of the nation’s leading advocates for reproductive justice. We smiled at each other, and then I said “[Justice Anthony] Kennedy thinks this is an abortion case. The government is going to lose.”
“That’s right,” she said, shaking her head. “That’s right.”
It might not be as open and shut as all that, especially since distinctions were definitely drawn between for-profit and not-for-profit companies, but sources on the ground tell me a win would spell the end of the HHS Mandate, at least in the case of for-profits.
A ruling isn’t expected until June, but we’ll keep you up to date as events unfold. Keep these cases, and especially the Supreme Court Justices, in your prayers as they craft their opinions.