CHICAGO -- The U.S Supreme Court today issued a 5-4 ruling
in favor of the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties lawsuits against the
mandate handed down by the federal Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS)requiring all employers to offer insurance coverage of abortion-inducing
drugs, contraceptives, and sterilizations.
Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic
Conference of Illinois, issued the following statement on the
ruling:
We are elated the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes and affirms
the importance of religious freedom in the practice of business. Hobby Lobby and
Conestoga Wood Specialties have scored an important victory regarding religious
conscience that we hope portends a triumph for religious-based and nonprofit
employers pursuing similar lawsuits.
All of these cases challenge the federal mandate requiring
insurance coverage of such objectionable services as abortion-inducing drugs,
contraceptives and sterilizations. But the issue at hand goes far beyond birth
control, which today’s ruling addresses.
The issue strikes at the heart of the first 16 words of the
First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. …”
As we approach the Fourth of July and the celebration of our
country’s independence, we in the Catholic Church observe our third annual
“Fortnight for Freedom” from July 21-July 4, in recognition of America’s first
freedom – religious freedom. We breathe a sigh of relief that it has been
affirmed.
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