On June 30, 2014, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. that certain “closely held” for-profit corporations are exempt from the contraceptive mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), if the owners of the companies have religious objections to providing such coverage.
The case was brought by Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts retailer with more than 500 stores nationwide, and its sister company Mardel, a Christian bookstore chain. The Green family, which owns Hobby Lobby, objected to the ACA’s requirement that their company provide health insurance coverage for certain types of contraception that they believe can cause abortions.
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby means that the federal government cannot force closely held corporations to provide health insurance coverage for contraception if the owners have religious objections to doing so.
What did Hobby Lobby do?
Hobby Lobby is a for-profit corporation that won an exemption from the contraceptive mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
