Supreme Court deciding: Should bosses pay for contraception?

March 25--WASHINGTON -- Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren and some women's rights activists worry about rights being trampled, but when it comes to contraception they disagree about who might be hurt.

Warren said Monday that the Obamacare mandate that employers include contraception coverage in healthcare packages infringes on employers who believe life begins at conception. Sandra Fluke, who drew national attention in 2012 for her views, said employers shouldn't be able to dictate medical decisions.

Tuesday, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments from two businesses, craft store chain Hobby Lobby and cabinet manufacturer Conestoga Wood Specialties. The businesses contend the use of the "morning after" and "week after" pills violate their religious principles.

The owners explain healthcare laws violate the First Amendment as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration act. They point out the acts state Congress cannot pass laws that put a "substantial burden" on religious practice unless there is a "compelling interest" for them to do so.

The government is "trying to define religion. It's not the government's job to define religion," said Warren, who filed a "friend of the court" brief defending Hobby Lobby.

"A fundamental aspect of Christian doctrine is its requirement that faith," Warren said in a court brief, "must govern every aspect of a Christian's life."

Fluke, a Georgetown law graduate who is running for California state senate in an area covering Santa Monica and Torrance, counters that Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties are "using their own religious beliefs to limit other people's access to health care."

The court is expected to rule toward the end of June.

Some women's rights advocates say allowing an employer's religious convictions to dictate healthcare could have dangerous consequences. Fluke said that if the Supreme Court rules that corporations have the right to exercise religious beliefs companies could pay women lower wages if the boss thinks men should be the head of household.

Luu Ireland, an OB/GYN at UCLA Medical Center, described one patient who had recently left a violent relationship and was employed as a social worker at a Catholic institution that didn't cover birth control. Without state-provided birth control, Ireland said, the woman "might not have been able to (become) that financially independent single woman that she got to be."

"We believe that these cases are about protecting women's access to birth control and whether their bosses and politicians can interfere in their health decisions," said Kate Jeffrey of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernadino Counties.

Religious groups, though, state that their right to religious practice should not be infringed by the government. The government, Warren said, is arguing, "You can follow God at your church, but you can't follow God at your business."

One key aspect of the case is the difference between how the government treats for-profit businesses compared with non-profit religious groups and churches. Churches and houses of worship are exempt from the contraception mandate. Religiously affiliated, non-profit institutions, such as Catholic hospitals, aren't exempt but have the option of ensuring their insurance company pays for the contraception.

Still, some religious organizations say the accommodation is an undue burden. Greg Baylor, of the Alliance for Defending Freedom, represents Biola University in La Mirada, in a similar lawsuit and his case be impacted by the Supreme Court's ruling.

Biola "objects to drugs and devices that sometimes stop implantation. That stems from its belief that life begins at conception," Baylor explained.

Contact the writer: [email protected]; 202-383-6028

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