Hobby Lobby is Suing the U.S. Government Over Obamacare-Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
This is a forwarded email that contains a letter allegedly written by David Green, the owner of Hobby Lobby. The letter says that his company is run on Christian principles and that he feels that it is wrong to be federally ordered to enroll his employees in a government mandated healthcare program that provides abortion-causing drugs.
The Truth:
Update 7/2/14 – The Supreme Court made a ruling on June 30, 2014 that “certain ‘closely held’ for-profit businesses can cite religious objections in order to opt out of a requirement in ObamaCare to provide free contraceptive coverage for their employees.” This according to a June 30, 2014 article by Fox News, which said that the Supreme Court justices ruled 5-4 in favor of Hobby Lobby and one other company, after legal teams argued that a 1993 federal law on religious freedom, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, applied also to business.
Original findings of eRumor:
We have not been able to confirm that this letter was written by David Green but according a September 12, 2012 article by Reuters, the Hobby Lobby Company is suing the U.S. Government over the healthcare mandate.
TruthOrFiction.Com has made inquiries as to this letter’s origin and will update this page when we get further findings.
The Reuters article said that a lawsuit was filed in District Court in the Western District of Oklahoma “seeks a permanent injunction against the government on behalf of Hobby Lobby and other companies that have religious convictions against abortion.”
Green, the CEO and founder of the Oklahoma City based Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., told reporters, “These abortion-causing drugs go against our faith. We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate.”
The article also said that there is a January 1, 2013 deadline for the company to comply with the mandate. A lawyer representing the company told reporters that failure to comply could result in stiff fines.
On December 20, 2012 the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Hobby Lobby citing the lack of proof “the rule would ‘substantially burden’ its religious freedom.”
One week later, on December 26, 2012 the Supreme Court denied the “request by Hobby Lobby to shield the company from the so-called contraceptive mandate while its legal battle plays out, after a federal court last week similarly ruled against the Christian-owned company.” This according to a article on the same day by Fox News.
On July 19, 2013 “Hobby Lobby Inc. was given a temporary exemption Friday from a requirement in the new federal health care law to offer insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency birth control methods or face steep fines.” This according to a Fox News article dated that day. The article said the the judge gave the federal government until October 1 to “consider filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Posted 12/26/12 updated 07/02/14