Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Hobby Lobby On Contraception Mandate

If you work for a privately-held company, the Supreme Court has ruled that your bosses can decide if you get birth control coverage or not. In the closely watched legal battle on whether contraception may be excluded from the healthcare coverage private companies provide, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of the employers on Monday. The top court decided that employers can refuse to pay for contraception coverage and religious exemption can be claimed for the Obamacare mandate. This exemption only applies to the birth control mandate and religious employers who object other medical services, such as blood transfusions, are not covered. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by two family-owned businesses: Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties. The owners of these two businesses challenged the mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which required all employers to pay for contraception. This ruling means women who are employees at these businesses will have to pay for birth control out-of-pocket. The president of the Planned Parenthood Foundation of America, Cecile Richards, is disappointed at the ruling. She tweeted "birth control is basic healthcare used by 99% of women" and "in 1st full year of the birth control benefit, women saved $483M". This is the first time the Supreme Court recognized corporations' religious ideology.