Old white men -- a clear majority on the Supreme Court -- will get to opine on birth control.
ObamaCare's birth control mandate is putting the president's signature legislative issue on a fast track back to the Supreme Court....
... Two federal appeals courts have come down with opposite rulings on an important question related to the policy: whether for-profit businesses and their owners have the right to challenge in court the requirement that businesses provide contraception as part of their insurance coverage. ...The Hill
The likelihood that the issue will wind up in the Supreme Court stems from a lower court's decision.
Last month, a panel of judges on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the owners of a for-profit corporation who sued to block the mandate.
Members of the Hahn family, which owns a cabinet-making firm called Conestoga, said complying with the contraception requirement would violate their Mennonite faith.
But the 3rd Circuit said the family could not sue over a policy that applies to its company.
“Since Conestoga is distinct from the Hahns, the Mandate does not actually require the Hahns to do anything,” the court said. “All responsibility for complying with the Mandate falls on Conestoga.”
The owners’ religious beliefs do not “pass through” to the corporation they own, the court said in its ruling.
“The Hahn family chose to incorporate and conduct business through Conestoga, thereby obtaining both the advantages and disadvantages of the corporate form. We simply cannot ignore the distinction between Conestoga and the Hahns,” the court said.
The ACLU’s Melling said the 3rd Circuit got it right. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion to individuals, she said, not businesses.
“Corporations don’t pray and have values,” Melling said. ...The Hill
Wait, ACLU -- not so fast! Didn't the Supremes already rule that corporations are people? The question remains: are women people?
