Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox SCOTUS case
  |Litigants=Burwell v. Hobby Lobby
  |ArgueDate=March 25
  |ArgueYear=2014
  |DecideDate=June 30
  |DecideYear=2014
  |FullName=Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al., Petitioners v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., Mardel, Inc., David Green, Barbara Green, Steve Green, Mart Green, and Darsee Lett; Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation, et al., Petitioners v. Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al.
  |USVol=573
  |USPage= 682
  |OralArgument= https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/13-354
  |Docket=13-354
  |Docket2=13-356
  |ParallelCitations=134 S. Ct. 2751; 189 [[L. Ed. 2d]] 675; 2014 [[U.S. LEXIS]] 4505; 123 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. ([[Bloomberg BNA|BNA]]) 621
  |Prior=''denying preliminary injunction'', [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10390225281706554853&hl=en&as_sdt=2006 870 F. Supp. 2d 1278 (W.D. Okla. 2012)], ''denying injunction pending appeal'', [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1721474507433667393&hl=en&as_sdt=2006 133 S. Ct. 641 (Sotomayor, Circuit Justice)], ''reversing and remanding'', [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16964735894130305098&hl=en&as_sdt=2006 723 F.3d 1114 (10th Cir. 2013).]
  |Subsequent=''issuing injunction'', [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12866371967763016052&hl=en&as_sdt=2006 No. CIV-12-1000-HE (W.D. Okla. Nov. 19, 2014).]
  |Holding=As applied to [[privately held corporation#privately held corporations and publicly traded corporations|privately held]] for-profit [[corporations]], a [[contraceptive mandate]] under the [[Department of Health and Human Services]] regulations violate the [[Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993]] because they are substantial burdens under that law. The Court assumes that guaranteeing cost-free access to the four challenged contraceptive methods is a compelling governmental interest, but the government has failed to show that the mandate is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.
  |Majority=Alito
  |JoinMajority=Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas
  |Concurrence=Kennedy
  |Dissent=Ginsburg
  |JoinDissent=Sotomayor; Breyer, Kagan (all but Part III–C–1)
  |Dissent2=Breyer and Kagan
  |LawsApplied={{plain list|1=
* [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]
* [[Religious Freedom Restoration Act]]
* [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|U.S. Const. amend. I]]
}}
}}

'''''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.''''', 573 U.S. 682 (2014), is a [[List of landmark court decisions in the United States|landmark decision]]<ref>{{cite news|last1=Willis|first1=David|title=Hobby Lobby case: Court curbs contraception mandate|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/28093756|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=BBC News|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=June 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630234018/http://www.bbc.com/news/28093756|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=O'Donoghue|first1=Amy Joi|title=Group protests Hobby Lobby decision on birth control|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865606395/Group-protests-Hobby-Lobby-decision-on-birth-control.html?pg=all|access-date=Jul 30, 2014|work=Deseret News|date=Jul 5, 2014|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812150817/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865606395/Group-protests-Hobby-Lobby-decision-on-birth-control.html?pg=all|url-status=live}}</ref> in [[United States corporate law]] by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] allowing [[privately held corporation#privately held corporations and publicly traded corporations|privately held]] for-profit [[corporations]] to be [[Religious exemption|exempt]] from a regulation that its owners religiously object to, if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law's interest, according to the provisions of the [[Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993]]. It is the first time that the Court has recognized a for-profit corporation's claim of religious belief,<ref name=HaberkornGerstein/> but it is limited to privately held corporations.{{efn|"Privately held" corporations are defined by the [[Internal Revenue Service]] as those which a) have more than 50% of the value of their outstanding stock owned (directly or indirectly) by 5 or fewer individuals at any time during the last half of the tax year; and b) are not personal service corporations. By this definition, approximately 90% of U.S. corporations are "privately held", and approximately 52% of the U.S. workforce is employed by privately held corporations. See [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/30/a-lot-of-people-could-be-affected-by-the-supreme-courts-birth-control-decision/ Blake 2014], ''The Washington Post''.}} The decision does not address whether such corporations are protected by the [[free exercise clause|free exercise of religion clause]] of the First Amendment of the Constitution.

For such companies, the Court's majority directly struck down the [[contraceptive mandate]], a regulation adopted by the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]] (HHS) under the [[Affordable Care Act]] (ACA) requiring employers to cover certain contraceptives for their female employees, by a 5–4 vote.<ref>See:
* {{cite news | work = USA Today | url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/30/supreme-court-hobby-lobby-religion-contraception-obama/11473189/ | title = Justices rule for Hobby Lobby on contraception mandate | date = June 30, 2014 | first = Richard | last = Wolf | access-date = August 25, 2017 | archive-date = May 18, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210518182851/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/30/supreme-court-hobby-lobby-religion-contraception-obama/11473189/ | url-status = live }}
* {{cite news | publisher = CNN | url = http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/30/politics/scotus-obamacare-contraception/ | title = Supreme Court rules against Obama in contraception case | first = Bill | last = Mears | author2 = Tom Cohen | date = June 30, 2014 | access-date = June 30, 2014 | archive-date = April 30, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210430042415/https://www.cnn.com/2014/06/30/politics/scotus-obamacare-contraception/ | url-status = live }}
* {{cite news | work = BusinessWeek | url = http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-07/supreme-court-feuds-over-the-hobby-lobby-birth-control-ruling | title = A Supreme Feud Over Birth Control: Four Blunt Points | date = July 7, 2014 | first = Paul | last = Barrett | access-date = 2014-07-17 | archive-date = 2015-01-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150113042937/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-07/supreme-court-feuds-over-the-hobby-lobby-birth-control-ruling | url-status = dead }}</ref> The court said that the mandate was not the least restrictive way to ensure access to contraceptive care, noting that a less restrictive alternative was being provided for religious non-profits, until the Court issued an injunction 3 days later, effectively ending said alternative, replacing it with a government-sponsored alternative for any female employees of privately held corporations that do not wish to provide [[birth control]].<ref>See:
* {{cite news | work = BusinessInsider | url = http://www.businessinsider.com/sotomayor-ginsburg-kagan-dissent-wheaton-college-decision-supreme-court-2014-7/ | title = Female Justices Issue Scathing Dissent In The First Post-Hobby Lobby Birth Control Exemption | date = July 3, 2014 | first = Brett | last = Logiurato | access-date = September 25, 2014 | archive-date = May 11, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210511155915/https://www.businessinsider.com/sotomayor-ginsburg-kagan-dissent-wheaton-college-decision-supreme-court-2014-7 | url-status = live }}</ref> The ruling is considered to be part of the political [[controversy]] regarding the [[Obamacare|Affordable Care Act]] in the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Court sides with Hobby Lobby|first1=Jennifer|last1=Haberkorn|first2=Josh|last2=Gerstein|date=June 30, 2014|website=Politico.com|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/supreme-court-hobby-lobby-decision-contraception-mandate-108429|access-date=June 30, 2014|archive-date=September 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914050847/http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/supreme-court-hobby-lobby-decision-contraception-mandate-108429|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Background ==
=== Federal law ===
==== Religious Freedom Restoration Act ====
The United States Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Employment Division v. Smith]]'' (1990) that a person may not defy ''neutral laws of general applicability''{{efn|The meaning of ''neutral law of general applicability'' was [[Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah|elaborated by the court in 1993]].}} even as an expression of religious belief. "To permit this," wrote Justice Scalia, citing the 1878 ''[[Reynolds v. United States]]'' decision, "would make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://web.utk.edu/~scheb/decisions/Reynolds.htm|title = Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145, 25 L.Ed. 244 (1878)|date = 1878|access-date = September 2, 2015|archive-date = July 11, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150711013558/http://web.utk.edu/~scheb/decisions/Reynolds.htm|url-status = live}}</ref> " He wrote that generally applicable laws do not have to meet the standard of [[strict scrutiny]], because such a requirement would create "a private right to ignore generally applicable laws". Strict scrutiny would require a law to be the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling government interest.

In 1993, the US Congress responded by passing the [[Religious Freedom Restoration Act]] (RFRA), requiring strict scrutiny when a neutral law of general applicability "substantially burden[s] a person's{{efn|The [[Dictionary Act]] defines the word 'person' in any act of Congress to include corporations.}} exercise of religion".<ref name=NYTimes>{{cite news|last=Liptak|first=Adam|title=Supreme Court Hears Cases on Contraception Rule|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/us/politics/q-and-a-on-challenges-to-health-laws-birth-control-requirement.html|access-date=March 25, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 25, 2014|archive-date=April 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407173056/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/us/politics/q-and-a-on-challenges-to-health-laws-birth-control-requirement.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> The RFRA was amended in 2000 by the [[Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act]] (RLUIPA) to redefine ''exercise of religion'' as any exercise of religion, "whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief", which is to be "construed in favor of a broad protection of religious exercise, to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of this chapter and the Constitution". The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the RFRA as applied to federal statutes in ''[[Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita]]'' in 2006.

==== Affordable Care Act ====
Of those Americans who have health insurance, most are covered by [[Private Option|employer-sponsored]] health insurance. In 2010, [[United States Congress|Congress]] passed the [[Affordable Care Act]] (ACA), which relies on the [[Health Resources and Services Administration]] (HRSA), part of the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|Department of Health and Human Services]] (HHS), to specify what kinds of preventive care for women should be covered in certain employer-based health plans. HHS exempted religious employers (churches and their integrated auxiliaries, associations of churches, and any religious order), non-profit organizations that object to any required contraception,<ref>{{cite web|title=High court worsens pain of Obamacare birth-control compromise|website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-health-contraceptives01-20140701,0,3865443.story|access-date=July 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703122917/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-health-contraceptives01-20140701,0,3865443.story|archive-date=July 3, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> employers providing grandfathered plans (that have not had specific changes before March 23, 2010), and employers with fewer than 50 employees. The HRSA decided that all twenty contraceptives approved by the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) should be covered.<ref>{{cite web|title=A statement by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius|url=https://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/01/20120120a.html|work=HHS.gov|access-date=March 25, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702150143/http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/01/20120120a.html|archive-date=July 2, 2014}}</ref> Companies that refuse are fined $100 per individual per day,<ref name=CNN>{{cite news|last=Mears|first=Bill|title=Justices to hear 'Hobby Lobby' case on Obamacare birth control rule|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/21/politics/scotus-obamacare-contraception-mandate/|access-date=March 25, 2014|newspaper=CNN|date=March 23, 2014|archive-date=March 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325131329/http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/21/politics/scotus-obamacare-contraception-mandate|url-status=live}}</ref> or they can replace their health coverage with higher wages and a calibrated tax.

=== Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties ===
[[Hobby Lobby]] is an arts and crafts company founded by billionaire<ref>{{cite news|last1=O'Connor|first1=Clare|title=Hobby Lobby Fallout: Catholic Soy Milk Mogul Won't Cover Drugs That 'Prevent Procreation'|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/07/03/hobby-lobby-fallout-catholic-soy-milk-mogul-wont-cover-drugs-that-prevent-procreation/|access-date=Jul 7, 2014|work=Forbes|date=Jul 3, 2014|archive-date=July 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707015102/http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/07/03/hobby-lobby-fallout-catholic-soy-milk-mogul-wont-cover-drugs-that-prevent-procreation/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[David Green (entrepreneur)|David Green]] and owned by the [[Evangelical Christian]] Green family with about 21,000 employees.<ref name=CNN/> It provided health insurance covering the contraceptives  [[Levonorgestrel|Plan-B]] and [[Ulipristal acetate|Ella]] until it dropped its coverage in 2012, the year it filed its lawsuit.<ref>{{cite news|last=Woodward|first=Brian|title=Hobby Lobby provided emergency contraceptives before they opposed them|url=http://www.reddirtreport.com/prairie-opinions/hobby-lobby-provided-emergency-contraceptives-they-opposed-them|access-date=March 30, 2014|newspaper=Red Dirt Report|date=March 27, 2014|archive-date=March 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331045311/http://www.reddirtreport.com/prairie-opinions/hobby-lobby-provided-emergency-contraceptives-they-opposed-them|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Rutten|first=Tim|title=Hobby Lobby case could cause huge legal, social disruption: Tim Rutten|url=http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20140328/hobby-lobby-case-could-cause-huge-legal-social-disruption-tim-rutten|access-date=March 30, 2014|newspaper=Los Angeles Daily News|date=March 28, 2014|archive-date=May 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514135556/http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20140328/hobby-lobby-case-could-cause-huge-legal-social-disruption-tim-rutten|url-status=live}}</ref>  The Hobby Lobby case also involved Mardel Christian and Educational Supply, which is owned by [[Mart Green]], one of David's sons.

Hobby Lobby's case was consolidated with another case by [[Conestoga Wood Specialties]], a furniture company owned by the [[Mennonite]] Hahn family that has about 1,000 employees, represented by the [[Alliance Defending Freedom]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cassidy|first1=Suzanne|title=Meet the major legal players in the Conestoga Wood Specialties Supreme Court case|url=http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/meet-the-major-legal-players-in-the-conestoga-wood-specialties/article_302bc8e2-b379-11e3-b669-001a4bcf6878.html|website=Lancaster Online|access-date=30 January 2015|archive-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301035324/http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/meet-the-major-legal-players-in-the-conestoga-wood-specialties/article_302bc8e2-b379-11e3-b669-001a4bcf6878.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Specific contraceptives contested by plaintiffs ====
The plaintiffs believed that life began at [[Fertilisation|conception]] which they equated to [[fertilization]], and objected to their businesses providing health insurance coverage to their female employees of four [[Food and Drug Administration|FDA]]-approved [[birth control|contraceptives]] that the plaintiffs believed prevented [[implantation (human embryo)|implantation of a fertilized egg]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Carroll|first=Aaron E.|date=June 30, 2014|title=How Hobby Lobby ruling could limit access to birth control|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/upshot/how-hobby-lobby-ruling-could-limit-access-to-birth-control.html|access-date=July 2, 2014|archive-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701182059/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/upshot/how-hobby-lobby-ruling-could-limit-access-to-birth-control.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The plaintiffs believed the following forms of birth control constituted an [[abortion]]:<ref>{{cite news|last=Liptak|first=Adam|date=June 30, 2014|title=Supreme Court rejects contraceptives mandate for some corporations. Justices rule in favor of Hobby Lobby|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/us/hobby-lobby-case-supreme-court-contraception.html|access-date=July 2, 2014|archive-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701141819/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/us/hobby-lobby-case-supreme-court-contraception.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Barnes|first=Robert|date=June 30, 2014|title=Supreme Court sides with employers over birth control mandate|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/supreme-court-sides-with-employers-over-birth-control-mandate/2014/06/30/852e5c84-fc61-11e3-b1f4-8e77c632c07b_story.html|access-date=July 2, 2014|archive-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701174801/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/supreme-court-sides-with-employers-over-birth-control-mandate/2014/06/30/852e5c84-fc61-11e3-b1f4-8e77c632c07b_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Richey|first=Warren|date=June 30, 2014|title=Supreme Court rules against contraceptive mandate in Hobby Lobby case|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2014/0630/Supreme-Court-rules-against-contraceptive-mandate-in-Hobby-Lobby-case-video|access-date=July 4, 2014|archive-date=July 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704113327/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2014/0630/Supreme-Court-rules-against-contraceptive-mandate-in-Hobby-Lobby-case-video|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Emergency contraception|Emergency contraceptive]] pills
** [[levonorgestrel]] (sold under the brand name Plan B among others)
** [[ulipristal acetate]] (sold under the brand name Ella among others)
* [[Intrauterine device]]s (IUDs)
** [[copper IUD]]s (sold under the brand name ParaGard among others)
** [[Hormonal IUDs]] (sold under the brand names Mirena and Skyla among others)

=== Lower court history ===
In September 2012, Hobby Lobby filed a lawsuit in the [[United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma]] against enforcement of the contraception rule based on the RFRA and the [[Free Exercise Clause]] of the First Amendment.  On November 19, 2012, U.S. District Judge [[Joe L. Heaton]] denied Hobby Lobby's request for a preliminary injunction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10390225281706554853&hl=en&as_sdt=2006|title=Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, 870 F. Supp. 2d 1278 - Dist. Court, WD Oklahoma 2012 - Google Scholar|access-date=2016-10-17|archive-date=2020-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107053836/https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10390225281706554853&hl=en&as_sdt=2006|url-status=live}}</ref>  On December 26, 2012, Justice [[Sonia Sotomayor]] issued an [[in-chambers opinion]] denying an injunction pending appeal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1721474507433667393&hl=en&as_sdt=2006|title=Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, 133 S. Ct. 641 - Supreme Court 2012 - Google Scholar|access-date=2016-10-17|archive-date=2017-04-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423171936/https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1721474507433667393&hl=en&as_sdt=2006|url-status=live}}</ref>  In March 2013, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit]] granted a hearing of the case. In June, the appeals court ruled that Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. is a person who has [[religious freedom]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16964735894130305098&hl=en&as_sdt=2006|title=Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, 723 F. 3d 1114 - Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit 2013 - Google Scholar|access-date=2016-10-17|archive-date=2021-02-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214231909/https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16964735894130305098&hl=en&as_sdt=2006|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Reach/> Circuit Judge [[Timothy Tymkovich]] wrote for the five-judge [[en banc]] majority, over a three-judge dissent.<ref>[http://cdn.harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/vol127_hobby_lobby_v_sebelius.pdf ''Recent Cases: Tenth Circuit Holds For-Profit Corporate Plaintiffs Likely to Succeed on the Merits of Substantial Burden on Religious Claim,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001132022/http://cdn.harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/vol127_hobby_lobby_v_sebelius.pdf |date=2015-10-01 }} 127 Harv. L. Rev. 1025 (2014).</ref> [[Neil Gorsuch]] voted with the majority and also wrote an opinion on the case.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-supreme-court-nominee-neil-gorsuch-notable-opinions-20170131-story.html|title=Hobby Lobby case among Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch's notable opinions|first=Tribune news|last=services|website=chicagotribune.com|access-date=2019-07-04|archive-date=2019-07-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704192523/https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-supreme-court-nominee-neil-gorsuch-notable-opinions-20170131-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The court ordered the government to stop enforcement of the contraception rule on Hobby Lobby and sent the case back to the district court, which granted preliminary injunction in July. In September, the government appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite web|title=Case Timeline|url=http://www.hobbylobbycase.com/the-case/case-timeline/|work=hobbylobbycase.com|access-date=March 25, 2014|archive-date=March 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326062651/http://www.hobbylobbycase.com/the-case/case-timeline/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Two other federal appeals courts ruled against the [[Birth control|contraception]] coverage rule, while another two upheld it.<ref name=CNN/>

The case was previously titled ''Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby''. [[Sylvia Mathews Burwell|Sylvia Burwell]] was automatically substituted as petitioner when she was approved by the [[United States Senate]] as [[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|the Secretary of Health and Human Services]] after being nominated by [[President of the United States|President]] [[Barack Obama]] to replace [[Kathleen Sebelius]] following Sebelius' resignation on April 10, 2014.

== U.S. Supreme Court consideration ==

=== Acceptance and briefs ===
On November 26, the Supreme Court accepted and consolidated the case with ''Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius.'' Two dozen amicus briefs support the government, and five dozen support the companies. [[American Freedom Law Center]]'s brief argues that birth control harms women because men will only want them "for the satisfaction of [their] own desires."<ref>{{cite news|last=Marcotte|first=Amanda|title=Your Health Care, Your Choices (Amen, to That!)|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/24/your-health-care-your-choices-amen-to-that.html|access-date=March 27, 2014|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=March 24, 2014|archive-date=March 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326104349/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/24/your-health-care-your-choices-amen-to-that.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Another brief argues that the contraception rule leads to "the maximization of sexual activity".<ref name=LATimes>{{cite news|last=Abcarian|first=Robin|title=Religion run amok? Hobby Lobby's case comes to the Supreme Court|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-ra-religion-case-run-amok-hobby-lobby-supreme-court-20140321,0,2434477.story#axzz2xCDkXOYk|access-date=March 27, 2014|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123200316/https://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-ra-religion-case-run-amok-hobby-lobby-supreme-court-20140321-story.html|archive-date=November 23, 2018}}</ref> Two of the briefs oppose each other on the constitutionality of the RFRA. Two briefs that do not formally take sides oppose each other on whether the right to religion applies to corporations.<ref>{{cite news|last=Denniston|first=Lyle|title=Argument preview: Religion, rights, and the workplace|url=http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/03/argument-preview-religion-rights-and-the-workplace/|access-date=March 25, 2014|newspaper=SCOTUSblog|date=March 20, 2014|archive-date=March 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325184312/http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/03/argument-preview-religion-rights-and-the-workplace/|url-status=live}}</ref> One of those briefs argues that if shareholders are separated by the [[corporate veil]] from corporate liabilities, then their religious values are also separate from the corporation. It mentions the ruling in ''[[Domino's Pizza, Inc. v. McDonald]]'' made against the [[African American]] owner of JWM Investments whose contracts were breached due to racial discrimination. The brief argues that if JWM Investments could not suffer discrimination through its owner, then Hobby Lobby could not suffer religious burden through its owner.<ref>{{cite news|last=Beutler|first=Brian|title=Right-wing judges face huge moral dilemma: How Hobby Lobby could expose SCOTUS' hypocrisy|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/03/24/right_wing_judges_face_huge_moral_dilemma_how_hobby_lobby_could_expose_scotus_hypocrisy/|access-date=March 27, 2014|newspaper=Salon|date=March 24, 2014|archive-date=March 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327022143/http://www.salon.com/2014/03/24/right_wing_judges_face_huge_moral_dilemma_how_hobby_lobby_could_expose_scotus_hypocrisy/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Amicus Curiae Brief of Corporate and Criminal Law Professors in Support of Petitioners|url=http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs-v3/13-354-13-356_amcu_cclp.authcheckdam.pdf|work=americanbar.org|publisher=American Bar Association|access-date=March 27, 2014|archive-date=March 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328125311/http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs-v3/13-354-13-356_amcu_cclp.authcheckdam.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Two briefs were filed by LGBT groups concerned that future anti-discrimination laws would be pre-emptively harmed if employers could claim to be religiously exempt.<ref>{{cite news|last=Goodwin|first=Liz|title=Why gay rights groups care about a Supreme Court birth control case|url=https://news.yahoo.com/why-gay-rights-groups-care-about-a-supreme-court-birth-control-case-211337519.html|access-date=March 27, 2014|newspaper=Yahoo News|date=March 5, 2014|archive-date=March 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310225815/http://news.yahoo.com/why-gay-rights-groups-care-about-a-supreme-court-birth-control-case-211337519.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Winkler|first=Adam|title=Will the Supreme Court License Anti-Gay Discrimination?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-winkler/will-the-supreme-court-li_b_5020848.html|access-date=March 27, 2014|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=March 24, 2014|archive-date=March 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327154143/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-winkler/will-the-supreme-court-li_b_5020848.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bassett|first=Laura|title=Hobby Lobby Win At Supreme Court Could Lead To More Anti-Gay Laws|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/03/hobby-lobby-supreme-court_n_4891606.html|access-date=March 27, 2014|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=March 3, 2014|archive-date=March 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326112818/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/03/hobby-lobby-supreme-court_n_4891606.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Argument and deliberation ===
Oral arguments were held on March 25, 2014, for 30 minutes more than the usual one hour.<ref name=NYTimes/>
The three women in the court focused their questioning on Hobby Lobby's lawyer, [[Paul Clement]], while the men focused on the administration's lawyer, Solicitor General [[Donald B. Verrilli Jr.]]<ref>{{cite news|last=Condon|first=Stephanie|title=Hobby Lobby case fires up women, conservatives on Supreme Court|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hobby-lobby-case-fires-up-women-conservatives-on-supreme-court/|access-date=March 25, 2014|newspaper=CBS News|date=March 25, 2014|archive-date=March 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325225446/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hobby-lobby-case-fires-up-women-conservatives-on-supreme-court/|url-status=live}}</ref> Justice Sotomayor quoted the ruling from [[United States v. Lee (1982)|''United States v. Lee'' (1982)]] saying that an employer can't deprive employees of a statutory right because of religious beliefs. Clement replied that ''Lee'' does not apply because it was a challenge against a tax rather than against a significant burden. Sotomayor said that instead of paying the burden of the penalty, Hobby Lobby could replace its health care with the equivalent expense of higher wages and a calibrated tax, which the government would use to pay for the employees' health care.<ref name=Proceedings>{{cite web|title=Proceedings|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/13-354_5436.pdf|work=supremecourt.gov|access-date=March 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326024552/http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/13-354_5436.pdf|archive-date=March 26, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Feldman|first=Noah|title=Feldman: Hobby Lobby verdict may be a surprise|url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/57738599-82/religious-hobby-lobby-court.html.csp|access-date=March 28, 2014|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=March 27, 2014|archive-date=March 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329080724/http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/57738599-82/religious-hobby-lobby-court.html.csp|url-status=live}}</ref> Near the end of Clement's argument, Justice Kennedy expressed concern for the rights of the employees who may not agree with the religious beliefs of their employers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Supreme Court Struggles In Hobby Lobby Case With Question Of Companies' Religious Rights|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/supreme-court-hobby-lobby_n_5027527.html|access-date=March 25, 2014|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=March 25, 2014|author=Ryan J. Reilly|author2=Laura Bassett|archive-date=March 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326011941/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/supreme-court-hobby-lobby_n_5027527.html|url-status=live}}</ref> When Verrilli argued that the ruling in ''[[Cutter v. Wilkinson]]'' requires the court to weigh the impact on third parties in every RFRA case, Justice Scalia said that the RFRA does not require the court to balance the interest of the religious objector to the interest of other individuals. Verilli returned to ''Lee,'' saying that granting an exemption to an employer should not impose the employer's religious faith on the employees.<ref name=Proceedings/><ref>{{cite web|last=Denniston|first=Lyle|title=Argument recap: One hearing, two dramas|url=http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/03/argument-recap-one-hearing-two-dramas/|work=SCOTUSblog|access-date=March 25, 2014|date=2014-03-25|archive-date=2014-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326032506/http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/03/argument-recap-one-hearing-two-dramas/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Opinion of the Court ==

=== Majority opinion ===
[[File:Samuel Alito official photo.jpg|thumb|left|185px|Justice [[Samuel Alito]] was the author of the Court's majority opinion.]]
On June 30, 2014, [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justice]] [[Samuel Alito]] delivered the judgment of the court. Four justices (Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas) joined him to strike down the HHS mandate, as applied to [[closely held corporation]]s with religious objections, and to prevent the plaintiffs from being compelled to provide contraception under their healthcare plans. The ruling was reached on statutory grounds, citing the RFRA, because the mandate was not the "least restrictive" method of implementing the government's interest. The ruling did not address Hobby Lobby's claims under the [[Free Exercise Clause]] of the First Amendment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/06/30/politics/scotus-obamacare-contraception/index.html|title=Supreme Court rules against Obama in contraception case - CNNPolitics|author=Bill Mears and Tom Cohen|website=CNN|date=30 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015604/https://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/30/politics/scotus-obamacare-contraception/index.html|archive-date=November 12, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Legislative Attorney Cynthia Brown |title=Free Exercise of Religion by Closely Held Corporations: Implications of ''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.'' at Summary and pages 1 and 8. |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43654.pdf |publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]] |access-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926090539/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43654.pdf |archive-date=September 26, 2020 |date=November 12, 2015}}</ref>

The court argued that the purpose of extending rights to corporations is to protect the rights of shareholders, officers, and employees.<ref>{{ussc|name=Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.|volume=573|year=|docket=13-354}}, slip op. at 24 (2014).</ref> It said that "allowing Hobby Lobby, Conestoga, and Mardel to assert RFRA claims protects the religious liberty of the Greens and the Hahns."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 24, restated in and quoted from p 27|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The court found that for-profit corporations could be considered ''persons'' under the RFRA. It noted that the HHS treats ''nonprofit'' corporations as ''persons'' within the meaning of RFRA. The court stated, "no conceivable definition of the term includes natural persons and nonprofit corporations, but not for-profit corporations."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', pp. 25–26|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Responding to lower court judges' suggestion that the purpose of for-profit corporations "is simply to make money," the court said, "For-profit corporations, with ownership approval, support a wide variety of charitable causes, and it is not at all uncommon for such corporations to further humanitarian and other altruistic objectives."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', pp. 28–29|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The court rejected the contention that "the Nation lacks a tradition of exempting for-profit corporations from generally applicable laws," pointing to a federal statute from 1993 that exempted any covered health care entity from engaging in "certain activities related to abortion".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 34|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The court held that the HHS [[Birth control|contraception]] mandate substantially burdens the exercise of religion, rejecting an argument that the $2,000-per-employee penalty for dropping insurance coverage is less than the average cost of health insurance. Responding to HHS's argument that the provision of coverage does not itself result in destruction of embryos, the Court asserted that the argument dodges the substantial burden question that the Court is supposed to address. The Court added, citing Jesuit moral manuals, that the argument is also the religious question of the morality of enabling the immoral acts of others, to which HHS had provided "a binding national answer". The Court argued that federal courts should not answer religious questions because they would in effect be deciding whether certain beliefs are flawed.<ref>134 S. Ct. 2751, 2778 fn.34 (citing [[David S. Oderberg]], [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=6248324&fileId=S1358246100008511|The Ethics of Co-operation in Wrongdoing, in Modern Moral Philosophy 203-228 (A. O'Hear ed. 2004)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704060725/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/royal-institute-of-philosophy-supplements/article/abs/ethics-of-cooperation-in-wrongdoing/594392A5F879E604A8549FB80F9E4F44 |date=2022-07-04 }}; Thomas Higgins S.J., [https://archive.org/details/manasmansciencea00higg Man as Man: The Science and Art of Ethics 353, 355 (1949)]; 1 Henry Davis S.J., [http://www.kingscollege.net/gbrodie/Manuel%20excerpt.pdf Moral and Pastoral Theology 341 (1935).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123905/http://www.kingscollege.net/gbrodie/Manuel%20excerpt.pdf |date=2015-04-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Griffin|first1=Leslie C.|title=Catholic Moral Theology at the Supreme Court|url=http://americamagazine.org/content/all-things/catholic-moral-theology-supreme-court|access-date=24 March 2015|work=America The National Catholic Review|date=July 2, 2014|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090347/http://americamagazine.org/content/all-things/catholic-moral-theology-supreme-court|url-status=live}}</ref>  The court argued that "companies would face a competitive disadvantage in retaining and attracting skilled workers," that increased wages for employees to buy individual coverage would be more costly than group health insurance, that any raise in wages would have to take income taxes into account, and that employers cannot deduct the penalty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores,'' pp. 39–40|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The court found it unnecessary to adjudicate on whether the HHS contraceptive mandate furthers a compelling government interest and held that HHS has not shown that the mandate is "the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling interest".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 46|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The court argued that the most straightforward alternative would be "for the Government to assume the cost&nbsp;..." and that HHS has not shown that it is not "a viable alternative".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores,'' p. 47|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The court said that the RFRA can "require creation of entirely new programs".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 48|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The court also pointed out that HHS already exempts any nonprofit organization from paying for any required contraception by allowing it to certify its religious objection to its insurance issuer, which must "[p]rovide separate payments for any contraceptive services required to be covered".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores,'' pp. 15–16, 49|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the court said the approach might not necessarily be the least restrictive alternative for all religious claims.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 50|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The court concluded by addressing "the possibility that discrimination in hiring, for example on the basis of race, might be cloaked as religious practice to escape legal sanction". The court said that their decision "provides no such shield", and that "prohibitions on racial discrimination are precisely tailored to achieve that critical goal."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 52|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The court also said that the requirement to pay taxes despite any religious objection is different from the contraceptive mandate because "there simply is no less restrictive alternative to the categorical requirement to pay taxes."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'',. pp. 52–53|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The court acknowledged the dissent's "worries about forcing the federal courts to apply RFRA to a host of claims made by litigants seeking a religious exemption from generally applicable laws&nbsp;...", noting that this point was "made forcefully by the Court in ''Smith.''" The court responded by saying, "Congress, in enacting RFRA, took the position that 'the compelling interest test as set forth in prior Federal court rulings is a workable test for striking sensible balances between religious liberty and competing prior governmental interests'&nbsp;... The wisdom of Congress's judgment on this matter is not our concern. Our responsibility is to enforce RFRA as written, and under the standard that RFRA prescribes, the HHS contraceptive mandate is unlawful."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 54|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Concurring opinion ===
[[File:Anthony Kennedy official SCOTUS portrait crop.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Anthony Kennedy|Justice Kennedy]], joined in the majority opinion but also wrote a concurring opinion addressing the dissent.]]
Justice [[Anthony Kennedy]] wrote a concurring opinion, responding to the "respectful and powerful dissent", by emphasizing the limited nature of the ruling and saying that the government  "makes the case that the mandate serves the Government's compelling interest in providing insurance coverage that is necessary to protect the health of female employees", but that the RFRA's least-restrictive way requirement is not met because "there is an existing, recognized, workable, and already-implemented framework to provide coverage," the one that HHS has devised for non-profit corporations with religious objections. "RFRA requires the Government to use this less restrictive means. As the Court explains, this existing model, designed precisely for this problem, might well suffice to distinguish the instant cases from many others in which it is more difficult and expensive to accommodate a governmental program to countless religious claims based on an alleged statutory right of free exercise." (Kennedy, J., concurring, pp.&nbsp;3, 4)

=== Dissenting opinions ===
[[File:Ruth Bader Ginsburg official SCOTUS portrait.jpg|thumb|left|185px| Justice [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] wrote a stern dissent disagreeing with the Court's reasoning.]]
Justice [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] delivered the primary dissent, which was joined by Justice Sotomayor in full and by Justices Breyer and Kagan as to all but Part III–C–1<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 60|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> on "whether a corporation qualifies as a 'person' capable of exercising religion".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', pp 72–73|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Ginsburg began, "In a decision of startling breadth, the Court holds that commercial enterprises, including corporations, along with partnerships and sole proprietorships, can opt out of any law (saving only tax laws) they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs.&nbsp;... Compelling governmental interests in uniform compliance with the law, and disadvantages that religion-based opt-outs impose on others, hold no sway, the Court decides, at least when there is a 'less restrictive alternative.' And such an alternative, the Court suggests, there always will be whenever, in lieu of tolling an enterprise claiming a religion-based exemption, the government, i.e., the general public, can pick up the tab."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', pp. 60–61|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

She challenged the majority's unprecedented view of for-profit religion saying "Until this litigation, no decision of this Court recognized a for-profit corporation's qualification for a religious exemption from a generally applicable law, whether under the Free Exercise Clause or RFRA. The absence of such precedent is just what one would expect, for the exercise of religion is characteristic of natural persons, not artificial legal entities...<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 73|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  Religious organizations exist to foster the interests of persons subscribing to the same religious faith. Not so of for-profit corporations. Workers who sustain the operations of those corporations commonly are not drawn from one religious community."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', p. 75|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Responding to the majority's argument that the government should "assume the cost" of contraceptives, Ginsburg said that "the nation's only dedicated source of federal funding for safety net family planning services&nbsp;..." is not designed to absorb the unmet needs of those already insured. She noted that "a less restrictive alternative" has not been written into law by Congress.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', pp. 87–88|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Ginsburg warns, "The Court, I fear, has ventured into a minefield&nbsp;..."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|title=''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores'', pp. 93–94|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709094145/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Justices Breyer and Kagan wrote a one-paragraph dissenting opinion, saying that "the plaintiffs' challenge to the contraceptive coverage requirement fails on the merits" and that they "need not and do not decide whether either for-profit corporations or their owners may bring claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/30/scotusblog-reports-closely-held-corporations-cannot-be-required-to-provide-contraception-coverage/ |title=Hobby Lobby wins before the Supreme Court |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 30, 2014 |access-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-date=June 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627185741/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/30/scotusblog-reports-closely-held-corporations-cannot-be-required-to-provide-contraception-coverage/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Reactions ==
Barbara Green, co-founder of Hobby Lobby, said "Today, the nation's highest court has reaffirmed the vital importance of religious liberty as one of our country's founding principles. The court's decision is a victory, not just for our family business, but for all who seek to live out their faith."<ref name=Wolf>{{cite news|last1=Wolf|first1=Richard|title=Justices rule for Hobby Lobby on contraception mandate|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/30/supreme-court-hobby-lobby-religion-contraception-obama/11473189/|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=USA Today|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=May 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518182851/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/30/supreme-court-hobby-lobby-religion-contraception-obama/11473189/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Conestoga CEO Anthony Hahn said, "Americans don't have to surrender their freedom when they open a family business."<ref name=Wolf/>

===Organizations===
Conservative and pro-life groups praised the ruling. ''[[National Review]]'' said that the Supreme Court ruling "[led] [[Alliance Defending Freedom]] attorney Matt Bowman to call ''Hobby Lobby'' an 'inclusive decision' that advances everyone's freedom."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/381619/rfra-worked-way-it-was-supposed-hobby-lobby-jennifer-marshall-sarah-torre|title=RFRA Worked the Way It Was Supposed To in Hobby Lobby|last=Torre|first=Sarah|author2=Jennifer A. Marshall|date=30 June 2014|publisher=[[National Review]]|access-date=13 July 2014|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714060847/http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/381619/rfra-worked-way-it-was-supposed-hobby-lobby-jennifer-marshall-sarah-torre|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Susan B. Anthony List]] President [[Marjorie Dannenfelser]] said, "This is a great victory for religious liberty – the bedrock of our founding. In living out our religious convictions, there are certain things we must not do. This is why we are at a watershed moment. Religious people will no longer be ordered to take action that our religion says we must not take."<ref name=DeVogue>{{cite news|last1=De Vogue|first1=Ariane|title=Hobby Lobby Wins Contraceptive Ruling in Supreme Court|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hobby-lobby-wins-contraceptive-ruling-supreme-court/story?id=24364311&singlePage=true|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=abc News|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701055009/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hobby-lobby-wins-contraceptive-ruling-supreme-court/story?id=24364311&singlePage=true|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Family Research Council]] President [[Tony Perkins (politician)|Tony Perkins]] said, "The Supreme Court has delivered one of the most significant victories for religious freedom in our generation. We are thankful the Supreme Court agreed that the government went too far by mandating that family businesses owners must violate their consciences under threat of crippling fines."<ref name=DeVogue/> The [[U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops]] said, "We welcome the Supreme Court's decision to recognize that Americans can continue to follow their faith when they run a family business&nbsp;... Now is the time to redouble our efforts to build a culture that fully respects religious freedom."<ref name=Boorstein>{{cite news|last1=Boorstein|first1=Michelle|title=Faith groups divided in their reaction to court's decision affirming religious rights|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/faith-groups-divided-in-their-reaction-to-courts-decision-affirming-religious-rights/2014/06/30/24a29ba8-0091-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html|access-date=Jul 4, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=July 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702160636/http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/faith-groups-divided-in-their-reaction-to-courts-decision-affirming-religious-rights/2014/06/30/24a29ba8-0091-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Pro-choice]] and civil-liberties groups criticized the ruling. [[Cecile Richards]], president of the [[Planned Parenthood Action Fund]], said, "Today, the Supreme Court ruled against American women and families, giving bosses the right to discriminate against women and deny their employees access to birth control coverage. This is a deeply disappointing and troubling ruling that will prevent some women, especially those working hourly-wage jobs and struggling to make ends meet, from getting birth control."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bassett|first1=Laura|last2=Reilly|first2=Ryan J.|title=Supreme Court Rules In Hobby Lobby Case, Dealing Blow To Birth Control Coverage|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/supreme-court-hobby-lobby_n_5521444.html|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=The Huffington Post|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701190726/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/supreme-court-hobby-lobby_n_5521444.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Deputy legal director of the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] Louise Melling said, "This is a deeply troubling decision. For the first time, the highest court in the country has said that business owners can use their religious beliefs to deny their employees a benefit that they are guaranteed by law."<ref name=MaggieFox/>

In an editorial, the ''[[New England Journal of Medicine]]'' called the decision "a setback for both the ACA's foundational goal of access to universal health care and for women's health care specifically", voicing concern that "in assessing the competing claims about abortion and birth control, the Court's majority focused on the religious claims of the corporations without discussing scientific or medical opinions."<ref name="nejm">{{cite journal | journal = N Engl J Med | vauthors = Annas GJ, Ruger TW, Ruger JP | title = Money, Sex, and Religion — The Supreme Court's ACA Sequel | year = 2014 | doi = 10.1056/NEJMhle1408081 | volume = 371 | issue = 9 | pages = 862–866 | pmid = 25029337 | url = https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2475&context=faculty_scholarship | access-date = 2019-09-24 | archive-date = 2021-04-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210417054204/https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2475&context=faculty_scholarship | url-status = live }}</ref> In ''[[JAMA Internal Medicine]]'', [[Alta Charo]] wrote that "consistent with a disturbing trend among courts and legislatures to misstate or misuse scientific information in the context of women's [[reproductive rights]] and health, the Supreme Court's decision ignored the well-accepted distinction between contraception and abortion."<ref name="jama">{{cite journal | journal = JAMA Internal Medicine | author = Charo RA | author-link = Alta Charo | year = 2014 | title = Conscience, Complicity, and Contraception | doi = 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.4200 | pmid = 25024087 | volume=174 | issue = 10 | pages = 1537–8 }}</ref> The [[American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists]], representing 90% of U.S. board-certified gynecologists, supported a bill to overturn the ''Hobby Lobby'' ruling.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bassett|first1=Laura|title=Major Doctors' Group Endorses Hobby Lobby Override Bill|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/14/major-doctors-group-endor_0_n_5585018.html|access-date=Jul 16, 2014|work=The Huffington Post|date=Jul 14, 2014|archive-date=July 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715165137/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/14/major-doctors-group-endor_0_n_5585018.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Government===
[[White House]] spokesman [[Josh Earnest]] said, "Congress needs to take action to solve this problem that's been created and the administration stands ready to work with them to do so. President Obama believes that women should make personal health care decisions for themselves, rather than their bosses deciding for them. Today's decision jeopardizes the health of women that are employed by these companies."<ref name=MaggieFox/>

Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] (D-Nev.) said, "If the Supreme Court will not protect women's access to health care, then Democrats will. We will continue to fight to preserve women's access to contraceptive coverage and keep bosses out of the examination room."<ref name=HaberkornGerstein/>

Senate Minority Leader [[Mitch McConnell]] said, "[T]he Obama administration cannot trample on the religious freedoms that Americans hold dear."<ref name=HaberkornGerstein>{{cite news|last1=Haberkorn|first1=Jennifer|last2=Gerstein|first2=Josh|title=Supreme Court sides with Hobby Lobby on contraception mandate|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/supreme-court-hobby-lobby-decision-contraception-mandate-108429.html|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=Politico|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701061139/http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/supreme-court-hobby-lobby-decision-contraception-mandate-108429.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Senator [[Chuck Schumer]] (D-NY), who introduced the RFRA in 1993, said his law "was not intended to extend the same protection to for-profit corporations, whose very purpose is to profit from the open market."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Peterson|first1=Kristina|title=Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby Ruling Ignites Debate Over Religious-Freedom Law|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-courts-hobby-lobby-ruling-ignites-debate-over-religious-freedom-law-1404155510|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=December 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222105840/http://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-courts-hobby-lobby-ruling-ignites-debate-over-religious-freedom-law-1404155510|url-status=live}}</ref>

Speaker of the House [[John Boehner]] (R-Ohio) said, "The mandate overturned today would have required for-profit companies to choose between violating their constitutionally-protected faith or paying crippling fines, which would have forced them to lay off employees or close their doors."<ref name=Carmon>{{cite news|last1=Carmon|first1=Irin|title=Supreme Court rules for Hobby Lobby in contraception case|url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hobby-lobby-supreme-court-wins-narrow-ruling|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=msnbc|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=June 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630183238/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hobby-lobby-supreme-court-wins-narrow-ruling|url-status=live}}</ref>

House minority leader [[Nancy Pelosi]] (D-CA) said, "Although the Court restricted their ruling to 'closely held' companies, this ruling will immediately affect the lives of millions of women across the country. Over 90 percent of America's businesses are 'closely held', including such large employers as [[Koch Industries]] and [[Bechtel]].<ref name=Carmon/> Women should not be forced to jump through extra hoops to secure the fundamental health care they need. Allowing employers and CEOs to limit the health care available to employees is a gross violation of their workers' religious rights. It's just not her boss' business."<ref name=MaggieFox>{{cite news|last1=Fox|first1=Maggie|title=Supreme Court on Birth Control: What Hobby Lobby Ruling Means|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/supreme-court-birth-control-what-hobby-lobby-ruling-means-n144526|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=NBC News|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=June 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630191817/http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/supreme-court-birth-control-what-hobby-lobby-ruling-means-n144526|url-status=live}}</ref>

Senator [[Ted Cruz]] (R-Tex.) said, "Today's victory in the Hobby Lobby case is terrific news—but now is no time to rest. We cannot rely on the courts alone to defend our religious liberty."<ref name=DeVogue/>

Senator [[Orrin Hatch]] (R-Utah) said, "I applaud the Supreme Court's decision to protect the religious freedom of all Americans, both individually and collectively. The notion that religious freedom belongs only to some, and even then only in private, defies our nation's traditions, our laws, and our Constitution. And as the Supreme Court rightfully said today, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act could not have been clearer in saying religious liberty of all Americans must be equally protected and not unnecessarily burdened."<ref name=DeVogue/>

Rep. [[Michele Bachmann]] (R-Minn) said, "I am extremely encouraged by today's Supreme Court decision to uphold the religious liberty rights of the Green family of Hobby Lobby."<ref name=DeVogue/>

==Aftermath==

===Cases following SCOTUS ruling===
''[[Forbes]]'' reported that following the ruling in ''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby'', "the Supreme Court vacated the judgment against [[Eden Foods]] and sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit for further consideration."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/07/03/hobby-lobby-fallout-catholic-soy-milk-mogul-wont-cover-drugs-that-prevent-procreation/|title=Hobby Lobby Fallout: Catholic Soy Milk Mogul Won't Cover Drugs That 'Prevent Procreation'|last=O'Connor|first=Clare|date=3 July 2014|work=[[Forbes]]|access-date=13 July 2014|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714133501/http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/07/03/hobby-lobby-fallout-catholic-soy-milk-mogul-wont-cover-drugs-that-prevent-procreation/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On November 6, 2015, the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] decided it will hear arguments for the case of ''[[Zubik v. Burwell]]'' combined with six other challenges—including ''[[Priests for Life]] v. Burwell'', ''[[Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell]]'', ''[[Geneva College v. Burwell]]'',
''[[Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington v. Burwell]]'', ''[[East Texas Baptist University v. Burwell]]'', ''[[Little Sisters of the Poor]] Home for the Aged v. Burwell''—to the [[contraceptive mandate]] of Obamacare.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/9429815-court-grants-all-seven-nonprofit-petitions-in-contraceptive-coverage-cas|title=Jack Balkin's Blog - Court grants all seven nonprofit petitions in contraceptive coverage cases, henceforth to be collectively referred to as &quot;Zubik v. Burwell&quot; [UPDATED to include briefing schedule] - November 18, 2015 05:40|website=Goodreads.com|access-date=July 4, 2019|archive-date=August 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811164512/https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/9429815-court-grants-all-seven-nonprofit-petitions-in-contraceptive-coverage-cas|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://balkin.blogspot.com/2015/11/who-is-zubik-in-zubik-v-burwell-and-why.html|title=Balkinization: Who is the "Zubik" in Zubik v. Burwell . . . and why is he allegedly complicit in the use of contraception? [UPDATED with list and categorization of all 37 petitioners]|website=balkin.blogspot.com|access-date=2019-07-04|archive-date=2019-07-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704192519/https://balkin.blogspot.com/2015/11/who-is-zubik-in-zubik-v-burwell-and-why.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2015/11/court-to-hear-birth-control-challenges/|title=Court to hear birth-control challenges (UPDATED)|date=November 6, 2015|website=SCOTUSblog|access-date=July 4, 2019|archive-date=July 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704192526/https://www.scotusblog.com/2015/11/court-to-hear-birth-control-challenges/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.findlaw.com/supreme_court/2015/11/scotus-will-hear-all-the-obamacare-contraception-exemption-cases.html|title=SCOTUS Will Hear All the Obamacare Contraception Exemption Cases|website=Findlaw|date=6 November 2015|access-date=27 June 2018|archive-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922120638/https://blogs.findlaw.com/supreme_court/2015/11/scotus-will-hear-all-the-obamacare-contraception-exemption-cases.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/zubik-v-burwell/|title=Zubik v. Burwell|website=SCOTUSblog|access-date=2019-07-04|archive-date=2019-07-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704192526/https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/zubik-v-burwell/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/14-1418.htm/|title=Search - Supreme Court of the United States|website=Supremecourt.gov|access-date=2022-07-04|archive-date=2022-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520184332/https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=%2Fdocketfiles%2F14-1418.htm%2F|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/14-1453.htm|title=Search - Supreme Court of the United States|website=Supremecourt.gov|access-date=2022-07-04|archive-date=2022-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520184332/https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=%2Fdocketfiles%2F14-1453.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/15-110.htm|title=Search - Supreme Court of the United States|website=Supremecourt.gov|access-date=2022-07-04|archive-date=2022-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520184332/https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=%2Fdocketfiles%2F15-110.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/14-1505.htm|title=Search - Supreme Court of the United States|website=Supremecourt.gov|access-date=2022-07-04|archive-date=2022-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520184332/https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=%2Fdocketfiles%2F14-1505.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/15-101.htm|title=Search - Supreme Court of the United States|website=Supremecourt.gov|access-date=2022-07-04|archive-date=2022-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520184332/https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=%2Fdocketfiles%2F15-101.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/15-105.htm|title=Search - Supreme Court of the United States|website=Supremecourt.gov|access-date=2022-07-04|archive-date=2022-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520184333/https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=%2Fdocketfiles%2F15-105.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Wheaton College order===
On July 3, 2014, the Supreme Court granted a temporary exemption to the approach it suggested as a less restrictive alternative in ''Hobby Lobby,'' where the plaintiffs would send a form ([[EBSA Form 700]])<ref name=form700>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/preventiveserviceseligibleorganizationcertificationform.doc|title=EBSA Form 700: Certification for Safe Harbor Exemption from Contraceptive Coverage Mandate|access-date=2014-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722040927/http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/preventiveserviceseligibleorganizationcertificationform.doc|archive-date=2014-07-22|url-status=dead}}</ref> to its insurance issuer, which would pay for the contraception. In an unsigned emergency injunction for [[Wheaton College (Illinois)|Wheaton College]] in Illinois, the court said that instead of notifying its insurance issuer, Wheaton can notify the government. Once notified, the government should notify the issuer. Wheaton believed that by transferring the obligation to cover contraceptives to its insurance issuer, it was triggering that obligation. The emergency injunction does not constitute a ruling on the merits of Wheaton's religious objection. The court said "Nothing in this interim order affects the ability of the applicant's employees and students to obtain, without cost, the full range of FDA approved contraceptives."<ref>[https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13a1284_ap6c.pdf Order in Pending Case, Wheaton College v. Bruwell, On Application for Injunction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625143448/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13a1284_ap6c.pdf |date=2017-06-25 }}, July 3, 2014</ref>

In a 15-page dissent joined by the other two women on the court, Justice [[Sonia Sotomayor]] criticized the majority's reasoning: "Wheaton's application comes nowhere near the high bar necessary to warrant an emergency injunction from this court&nbsp;... The court's actions in this case create unnecessary costs and layers of bureaucracy, and they ignore a simple truth: The government must be allowed to handle the basic tasks of public administration in a manner that comports with common sense."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Liptak|first1=Adam|title=Birth Control Order Deepens Divide Among Justices|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/us/politics/supreme-court-order-suspends-contraception-rule-for-christian-college.html|access-date=Jul 3, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=Jul 3, 2014|archive-date=July 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704020348/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/us/politics/supreme-court-order-suspends-contraception-rule-for-christian-college.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor granted a similar temporary injunction to the [[Little Sisters of the Poor]] at the end of 2013, just before the mandate was to go into effect.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bazelon|first1=Emily|title=Did Little Sisters of the Poor Win or Lose at the Supreme Court?|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/01/little_sisters_of_the_poor_case_supreme_court_grants_a_temporary_reprieve.single.html|access-date=Jul 6, 2014|work=Slate|date=Jan 24, 2014|archive-date=July 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714142713/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/01/little_sisters_of_the_poor_case_supreme_court_grants_a_temporary_reprieve.single.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/012414zr_6jgm.pdf|title=Supreme Court order|access-date=2017-06-27|archive-date=2017-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318154816/https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/012414zr_6jgm.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/13A691-Little-Sisters-v-Sebelius-Order.pdf|title=order from Sotomayor|access-date=2014-07-06|archive-date=2014-02-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140211034417/http://www.becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/13A691-Little-Sisters-v-Sebelius-Order.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In dueling commentaries between regular [[SCOTUSblog]] contributor [[Marty Lederman]] and co-founder [[Tom Goldstein]], Lederman argued that only Form 700 can require an insurance provider to pay for contraception coverage. Goldstein argued that an existing regulation allows the government to specify an alternative to Form 700. He pointed out that "the Court didn't accept Wheaton's most aggressive argument" that it cannot be required to do anything. He said that Justice Kennedy's concurrence is controlling and makes clear that the RFRA is not violated by requiring Wheaton to notify the government.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Goldstein|first1=Tom|title=Commentary: Why I don't think the Court's Wheaton College decision rests on any misunderstanding of the law|url=http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/07/commentary-why-i-dont-think-the-courts-wheaton-college-decision-rests-on-any-misunderstanding-of-the-law/|access-date=Jul 15, 2014|work=SCOTUSblog|date=Jul 4, 2014 <!-- 11:53 AM -->|archive-date=July 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716125720/http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/07/commentary-why-i-dont-think-the-courts-wheaton-college-decision-rests-on-any-misunderstanding-of-the-law/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Lederman|first1=Marty|title=Commentary: Is the Court's attempt at a compromise order in Wheaton College based upon a misunderstanding of the law?|url=http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/07/commentary-is-the-courts-attempt-at-a-compromise-order-in-wheaton-college-based-upon-a-misunderstanding-of-the-law/|access-date=Jul 15, 2014|work=SCOTUSblog|date=Jul 4, 2014 <!-- 11:52 AM -->|archive-date=July 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140711151210/http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/07/commentary-is-the-courts-attempt-at-a-compromise-order-in-wheaton-college-based-upon-a-misunderstanding-of-the-law/|url-status=live}}</ref>

A revised version of EBSA Form 700, effective August 2014, says "[a]s an alternative to using this form, an eligible organization may provide notice to the Secretary of Health and Human Services that the eligible organization has a religious objection to providing coverage for all or a subset of contraceptive services&nbsp;...".<ref name=form700/>

===Possible leak===
In November 2022, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported on a possible leak of the ''Hobby Lobby'' decision about two weeks prior to its formal announcement; this story was published following the leak and decision of ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'' in June 2022 which overturned ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' on abortion rights. Reverend Rob Schneck wrote to both Chief Justice John Roberts and to the ''Times'' stating that he had been told of which way ''Hobby Lobby'' was to be decided though a close associate after Schneck and his wife had a dinner party with Alito and his wife. At the time, Schneck used that information to inform Hobby Lobby and other religious organizations to prepare for the formal announcement of the decision. Schneck had opted to reveal this information in 2022 to aid in the investigation of the ''Dobbs'' decision leak.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/us/supreme-court-leak-abortion-roe-wade.html | title =   Former Anti-Abortion Leader Alleges Another Supreme Court Breach | first1 = Jodi | last1 = Kantor | first2 = Jo | last2=  Becker | date = November 19, 2022 | accessdate = November 19, 2022 | work = [[The New York Times]] }}</ref> In 2011 through their connection to the Historical Society, [[Hobby Lobby]]'s owners attended a Christmas party in Supreme Court chambers shortly before litigation was initiated which became Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lithwick |first1=Dahlia |title=The Real Problem With the Second Alleged Leak at the Court |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/alito-leak-hobby-lobby-real-problem.html |access-date=27 November 2022 |publisher=Slate |date=22 November 2022}}</ref>

== Implications ==
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
{{POV section|date=October 2014}}
{{Undue weight section|date=October 2014}}
}}

===Religious exemption from laws that apply to the general public===
Although the court stated clearly that the decision is limited to the contraceptive mandate (Syllabus p.&nbsp;4-5), the ruling is seen to have consequences extending far beyond contraception. [[Walter Dellinger]], former acting solicitor general said, "for the first time, commercial enterprises could successfully claim religious exemptions from laws that govern everyone else." Fifteen states had filed a brief arguing that businesses would be able to deny coverage for transfusions, stem cell treatments, and psychiatric care.<ref name=Reach>{{cite news|last=Liptak|first=Adam|title=Ruling Could Have Reach Beyond Issue of Contraception|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/us/contraception-ruling-could-have-reach-far-beyond-womens-rights.html|access-date=March 27, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 24, 2014|archive-date=March 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329123556/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/us/contraception-ruling-could-have-reach-far-beyond-womens-rights.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> In line with the dissenting opinion, ''[[The American Prospect]]'' asked, "[W]ill the taxpayers have to send a check to employees if employers feel that [[minimum wage]] laws violate their religious beliefs?"<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lemieux|first1=Scott|title=5 Men on Supreme Court Impose Substantial Burden on Women in Illogical Decision|url=http://prospect.org/article/5-men-supreme-court-impose-substantial-burden-women-illogical-decision|access-date=Jul 3, 2014|work=The American Prospect|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=July 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707024039/http://prospect.org/article/5-men-supreme-court-impose-substantial-burden-women-illogical-decision|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jonathan Rauch]], a senior fellow at the [[Brookings Institution]], said that objections to paying health benefits for same-sex spouses will get traction.<ref name=Cohen/> The [[National Gay and Lesbian Task Force]] (NGLT) and the [[National Center for Lesbian Rights]] withdrew their support for the [[Employment Non-Discrimination Act]] (ENDA) passed by the Senate, saying that its religious exemptions would allow companies to fire or refuse to hire LGBT workers in light of the ''Hobby Lobby'' ruling. NGLT executive director [[Rea Carey]] said, "We do not take this move lightly. We've been pushing for this bill for 20 years."<ref>{{cite news|last1=O'Keefe|first1=Ed|title=Gay rights group withdrawing support of ENDA after Hobby Lobby decision|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/08/gay-rights-group-withdrawing-support-of-enda-after-hobby-lobby-decision/|access-date=Jul 8, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=Jul 8, 2014|archive-date=July 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708184210/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/07/08/gay-rights-group-withdrawing-support-of-enda-after-hobby-lobby-decision/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Such concerns are focused on the court's application of the federal RFRA law and were driven by national controversy over a [[State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts|state RFRA]] amendment bill in Arizona. Douglas Laycock, law professor at the University of Virginia, said, "The whole secular left has decided" that RFRA laws "are very dangerous because they care so much more about the contraception cases and gay rights." He said RFRA laws are mischaracterized because they do not dictate outcomes favoring religious objectors, they only require courts to use the highest standard of scrutiny on any law challenged.<ref name=Reach/> Mark Kernes, Senior Editor and Chief Legal Analyst for [[AVN magazine]] stated in an [[op-ed]] piece, "If the Hobby Lobby decision supports the 'right' of companies not to make available birth control that will prevent women from 'catching' a pregnancy, what's to keep those same religious companies from arguing that providing access to [[pre-exposure prophylaxis|PrEP]] drugs like [[Truvada]], which help prevent gays (and, admittedly, everyone) from catching [[HIV]] shouldn't similarly be excluded from their health plans?"<ref name=2014AVNTruvada>{{cite web|last1=Kernes|first1=Mark|title=Will the Hobby Lobby Decision Impact the Availability of Truvada?|url=http://business.avn.com/articles/legal/Will-the-Hobby-Lobby-Decision-Impact-the-Availability-of-Truvada-565669.html|website=AVN.com|publisher=Adult Video News|access-date=3 July 2014|archive-date=8 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708204149/http://business.avn.com/articles/legal/Will-the-Hobby-Lobby-Decision-Impact-the-Availability-of-Truvada-565669.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2021, Senator Cory Booker introduced a bill called the Do No Harm Act to reverse Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-15 |title=Booker reintroduces bill reversing Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision |url=https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/booker-reintroduces-bill-reversing-supreme-courts-hobby-lobby-decision/ |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=New Jersey Globe |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916113432/https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/booker-reintroduces-bill-reversing-supreme-courts-hobby-lobby-decision/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

As of April 2022, there is an expectation that "Hobby Lobby 2.0" is forthcoming should President Biden pass changes to Obamacare regarding extensions for protections for trans people and the interpretation of discrimination on the basis of sex.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-21 |title='Hobby Lobby 2.0': Two Biden rules on trans care raise religious liberty fears |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/hobby-lobby-2-0-two-biden-rules-on-trans-care-raise-religious-liberty-fears |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=Restoring America |language=en |archive-date=2022-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426030827/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/hobby-lobby-2-0-two-biden-rules-on-trans-care-raise-religious-liberty-fears |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Imposition of religious beliefs onto others===
Ian Millhiser from [[Vox (website)|Vox.com]] argued that as a general rule in religious liberty cases prior to the Hobby Lobby decision religion can't be used to diminish the rights of others. He pointed to the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case ''[[United States v. Lee (1982)]]'' (1982) in which the Court declared "when followers of a particular sect enter into commercial activity as a matter of choice, the limits they accept on their own conduct as a matter of conscience and faith are not to be superimposed on the statutory schemes which are binding on others in that activity."<ref name="20191226Vox.comMillhiser" /> According to Millhiser the Hobby Lobby decision marks the first time "rights of religious believers could trump the rights of others."<ref name="20191226Vox.comMillhiser">{{cite news |last1=Millhiser |first1=Ian |title=9 Supreme Court cases that shaped the 2010s |url=https://www.vox.com/2019/12/26/21024188/nine-supreme-court-citizens-united-obamacare-muslim-ban-religion |access-date=December 1, 2020 |publisher=[[Vox (website)|Vox.com]] |date=December 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124073316/https://www.vox.com/2019/12/26/21024188/nine-supreme-court-citizens-united-obamacare-muslim-ban-religion |archive-date=November 24, 2020}}</ref> Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the [[National Women's Law Center]], argued in the same direction Millhiser by saying that the Supreme Court has never ruled that companies have religious beliefs and that "it has never held that religious exercise provides a license to harm others, or violate the rights of third parties."

Louise Melling, ACLU deputy legal director, said religious freedom "gives us all the right to hold our beliefs, but it doesn't give you the right to impose your beliefs on others, to discriminate against others."<ref name="LATimes" /> The editorial board of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that the decision "swept aside accepted principles of corporate law and religious liberty to grant owners of closely held, for-profit companies an unprecedented right to impose their religious views on employees."<ref>{{cite news|author1=The Editorial Board|title=Limiting Rights: Imposing Religion on Workers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/opinion/the-supreme-court-imposing-religion-on-workers.html|access-date=Jul 2, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701182034/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/opinion/the-supreme-court-imposing-religion-on-workers.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[Fox News]] columnist wrote, "..., with all of the debate about the religious beliefs of the Hobby Lobby owners, what about the religious beliefs of their employees? They are just as important, and should not be trampled upon."<ref>{{cite news|last1=A. Reyes|first1=Raúl|title=Opinion: In Hobby Lobby Decision, What About The Beliefs Of The Employees?|url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2014/07/02/opinion-in-hobby-lobby-decision-what-about-religious-beliefs-employees/|access-date=Jul 2, 2014|work=Fox News Latino|date=Jul 2, 2014|archive-date=July 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140711070049/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2014/07/02/opinion-in-hobby-lobby-decision-what-about-religious-beliefs-employees/|url-status=live}}</ref> The director of the [[United Church of Christ]]'s Washington, D.C. office, said that the ruling "may embolden private employers to claim religious objections to particular health care services, in effect forcing their own religious views upon their employees."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ehley|first1=Brianna|title=SCOTUS Hobby Lobby Ruling Chips Away At Obamacare|url=http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/06/30/SCOTUS-Hobby-Lobby-Ruling-Chips-Away-Obamacare|access-date=Jun 30, 2014|work=The Fiscal Times|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=July 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715045527/http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/06/30/SCOTUS-Hobby-Lobby-Ruling-Chips-Away-Obamacare|url-status=live}}</ref> Former Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] said, "It's the first time that our court has said that a closely held corporation has the rights of a person when it comes to religious freedom, which means that the ... corporation's employers can impose their religious beliefs on their employees."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Reston|first1=Maeve|title=Hillary Rodham Clinton calls Hobby Lobby ruling a 'slippery slope'|url=http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80680462/|access-date=Jul 2, 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2012|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20121006015957/http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80680462/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Center for American Progress]] said that the ruling "moves in the direction this court has been moving already, which is talking about [[corporate personhood]]—really treating corporations like people, saying that the corporation has a religion itself and that should be imposed on its employees."<ref name="Cohen">{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Tom|title=Hobby Lobby ruling much more than abortion|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/02/politics/scotus-hobby-lobby-impacts/|access-date=Jul 3, 2014|work=CNN|date=Jul 2, 2014|archive-date=July 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706205021/http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/02/politics/scotus-hobby-lobby-impacts|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Interfaith Alliance]] leader Rev. [[Welton Gaddy]] said, "The First Amendment is at its best when it is used to protect the rights of minorities from the whims of the powerful. Today's decision, which gives the powerful the right to force their religious beliefs on those around them, is a far cry from the best traditions of religious freedom."<ref name="Boorstein" />

Scholars on the other side (including some on the left){{citation needed|date=July 2017}} disagree, arguing that companies owned and run by liberals will likewise benefit from the freedom to operate according to their conscience or values—which has not been viewed as "imposing" views, because people routinely choose whom to associate with based on philosophical compatibility.<ref>{{cite news|title=A liberal's second thoughts about Hobby Lobby|first=Dale|last=Carpenter|date=July 12, 2014|website=Washingtonpost.com|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/07/12/a-liberals-second-thoughts-about-hobby-lobby/|access-date=August 25, 2017|archive-date=June 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627041923/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/07/12/a-liberals-second-thoughts-about-hobby-lobby/|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, some argue that "religious freedom is worth more than $35," in reference to the $35 that is saved by coverage of the contraceptives and that the Affordable Care Act would not have passed if it were designed to mandate this coverage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCaughey |first=Betsy |date=2015-03-05 |title=Hobby Lobby case: Religious freedom's worth more than $35 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/hobby-lobby-case-religious-freedoms-worth-more-than-35 |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}</ref> 

===Corporate liability===
''[[The New York Times]]'' editor Dorothy J. Samuels invoked the cautionary adage "be careful what you wish for", speculating that "if owners indicate that they are not entirely separate from their corporation—by denying corporation employees' birth control coverage based on their personal religious beliefs—the case could be made in future state-court litigation that they have waived their right to be shielded from responsibility for corporate financial liabilities."<ref name=Samuels>{{cite news|last1=J. Samuels|first1=Dorothy|title=Hobby Lobby, or When Corporations Get Things Both Ways|url=http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/hobby-lobby-or-when-corporations-get-things-both-ways/|access-date=Jul 3, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=Jul 2, 2014|archive-date=July 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702193156/http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/hobby-lobby-or-when-corporations-get-things-both-ways/|url-status=live}}</ref> The dean of the [[UC Irvine School of Law]], [[Erwin Chemerinsky]], said, "The liabilities of the corporation are not attributed to the owners, so why should the owners be able to attribute their beliefs to the company?"<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chemerinsky|first1=Erwin|title=The broad reach of the narrow Hobby Lobby ruling|url=http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80679909/|access-date=Jul 3, 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=Jun 30, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2012|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20121006015957/http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80679909/|url-status=live}}</ref> Several legal scholars wrote an amicus brief to the Supreme Court for this case arguing this danger, while scholars on the other side counter that incorporated non-profit organizations enjoy liability protection despite their activities based on religious or other values/conscience-based causes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Help me rebut the corporate law professors brief in the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood mandate cases|first=Stephen|last=Bainbridge|date=January 30, 2014|url=http://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2014/01/help-me-rebut-the-corporate-law-professors-belief-in-the-hobby-lobby-and-conestoga-wood-mandate-case.html|access-date=July 16, 2014|archive-date=July 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725081201/http://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2014/01/help-me-rebut-the-corporate-law-professors-belief-in-the-hobby-lobby-and-conestoga-wood-mandate-case.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[United States corporate law]]
* [[List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 573]]
* ''[[King v. Burwell]]''
* ''[[Zubik v. Burwell]]''
* [[David Zubik]]
* ''[[National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius]]''
* [[Sherbert Test|''Sherbert'' Test]]
* ''[[R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd]]'' - Supreme Court of Canada ruling on religious liberty of a corporation

== Notes and references ==
Notes:
{{notelist}}

References:
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|last1=Brougher|first1=Cynthia|title=Free Exercise of Religion by Closely Held Corporations: Implications of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.|date=July 23, 2014|publisher=Congressional Research Service|location=Washington, D.C.|url=http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43654.pdf|access-date=7 August 2014}}
*Chatman, Carliss (2018). [https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/nlj/vol18/iss3/6 "The Corporate Personhood Two-Step."] ''Nevada Law Journal''. '''18''': 811–861.
* {{cite journal |last1=Gedicks |first1=Frederick Mark |last2=Koppelman |first2=Andrew |title=Invisible Women: Why an Exemption for Hobby Lobby Would Violate the Establishment Clause |journal=Vanderbilt Law Review en Banc |volume=67 |pages=51–66 |year=2014 |url=http://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/content/articles/2014/03/Gedicks-and-Koppelman_Invisible-Women.pdf |access-date=2014-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714131802/http://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/content/articles/2014/03/Gedicks-and-Koppelman_Invisible-Women.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-14 |url-status=dead }}
* Ewan McGaughey, 'Fascism-Lite in America (or the social idea of Donald Trump)' (2016) [https://ssrn.com/abstract=2773217 TLI Think! Paper 26/2016]
* {{cite journal |last=Rosenbaum |first=Sara |title=When Religion Meets Workers' Rights: Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties |journal=Milbank Quarterly |volume=92 |issue=2 |pages=202–206 |year=2014 |doi=10.1111/1468-0009.12054 |pmc=4089368 |pmid=24890244}}
*Rachel VanSickle-Ward and Kevin Wallsten. 2019. ''The Politics of the Pill: Gender, Framing, and Policymaking in the Battle over Birth Control''. Oxford University Press.

==External links==
* {{caselaw source
 | case = ''Burwell v. Hobby Lobby'', {{Ussc|573|682|2014|el=no}}
 | courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2681317/burwell-v-hobby-lobby-stores-inc/
 | googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13281614894426393848
 | justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/13-354/
 | oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/13-354
 | other_source1 = Supreme Court (slip opinion) (archived)
 | other_url1 =https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf
 }}
* [http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/sebelius-v-hobby-lobby-stores-inc/ Coverage on SCOTUSblog]
* [https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/12/12-6294.pdf ''Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius'' Tenth Circuit 2013]
* [http://www.becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Order-for-HL-PI.pdf ''Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius'' W.D. Okla. 2012]

{{US1stAmendment|exercise}}

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