Protest at Laguna Niguel Hobby Lobby draws dozens

July 30--LAGUNA NIGUEL -- Wielding signs with messages that decried "the church of Hobby Lobby" and said "the Bible is not a health plan," dozens of people protested Tuesday outside the Laguna Niguel branch of the arts and crafts chain-store, which last month prevailed in a high-stakes legal battle over whether it could refuse to comply with the contraceptives requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Between 70 and 100 people joined in the roughly two-hour protest starting at noon, which drew a mixture of curiosity, approval and opposition from onlookers and passers-by.

The protest came in the wake of a June 30 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case stemming from a lawsuit filed by Hobby Lobby. The high court ruled that the Oklahoma City-based corporation could refuse to offer health insurance that included no-cost access to certain types of birth control to female employees because it conflicted with the company's religious freedom.

The decision has drawn heated reaction on both sides of the debate, and has included some protests outside Hobby Lobby stores in other cities.

Tuesday's protesters flanked the store's entrance as well as along the Alicia Parkway entrance to the Marketplace at Laguna Niguel shopping center.

"They brought this on themselves, they brought the Supreme Court case, they kept appealing it and they deserve what they're getting," said Liz Kadison, 31, of Mission Viejo, one of the protest's organizers. "We're going to come and protest, we're going to come and protest as much as we can, and if they hadn't pushed this, we wouldn't have pushed back."

Another one of the organizers, Alan Boinus of Laguna Beach, said "we really wanted to be here because this is the time when a lot of people shop."

Roberta Fox, 69 of Costa Mesa said she was "absolutely delighted at how much we have engaged people who didn't know and once they did know, said 'Yeah, this is wrong that an employer can do this to their female employees.'"

"They've always been a religious company ... and I don't think they're being phony about that. But I don't think their employees' health care is their business," said Jo Ballantyne, 69, of Laguna Woods Village.

Some drivers honked their horns as they drove by on Alicia, waving and giving thumbs up.

But there were also shouts of "Go home," "Why are you doing this?" and "Don't you have anything better to do?" from passing cars. Some customers entering the store verbally engaged the protesters.

A manager at the Laguna Niguel store declined to comment about the protest when contacted by the Register.

The Laguna Niguel Hobby Lobby, the first location in Orange County, opened in 2012. Other Hobby Lobby locations have since opened in Huntington Beach, Anaheim Hills and Lake Forest.

Contact the writer: 949-454-7323 or jwilkinson@ocregister.com

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