Arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is not happy with Obamacare. The Christian-based organization filed suit yesterday, claiming a mandate that requires employers to offer coverage for birth control, such as the morning-after pill and other drugs, forces it to abandon its religious beliefs.
In its suit, Hobby Lobby said not complying with the new law could cost the company up to $1.3 million in fines per day.
"By being required to make a choice between sacrificing our faith or paying millions of dollars in fines, we essentially must choose which poison pill to swallow," David Green, Hobby Lobby CEO and founder, said in a statement. "We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate."
The suit requests an injunction to prevent the company from having to comply, claiming the mandate is unconstitutional. If the injunction isn’t granted, Hobby Lobby would either have to start covering these drugs by Jan. 1, 2013, or stand in violation of the law.
"We are confident that the court will act quickly," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington, which represents Hobby Lobby. "This mandate violates the religious liberty of millions of Americans. The government has turned a deaf ear to the rights of business owners."
Read more about this story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
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