9 Jewish House Demos decry Hobby decision

WASHINGTON, D.C. (SDJW) — Nine Jewish Democrats in the House of Representatives joined the denunciation of a decision on Monday, June 30, by the Supreme Court in which it decided in favor of the Hobby Lobby, which, on religious grounds, sought permission to deny health care coverage to women for certain contraceptives.  The three Jewish Supreme Court justices and five Jewish senators also were opposed to the decision, as was previously reported.

Here, in alphabetical order,  is a round up of their statements:

U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island): “Women, not their bosses, should be in charge of their own personal health care choices. While much work remains, we have made tremendous progress in affording women full equality over many years and this decision rolls back that progress by limiting women’s access to contraceptive health care services.

“The Affordable Care Act is designed to ensure women have access to quality, affordable health care, including contraception and family planning — services that are critical to a woman’s health care needs. In fact, an overwhelming majority of women use birth control or contraceptives at some point in their lives and the idea that they should be denied access to these basic health care services because their boss finds it religiously objectionable is ridiculous. While today’s ruling will not undo all the benefits under the Affordable Care Act that allow millions of women to access birth control, it wrongly dictates that a CEO’s religious beliefs outweigh a woman’s right to access affordable contraception. This unfair discrimination contradicts the values of a majority of Americans and has no place in the 21st century. Importantly, today’s decision also sets a bad precedent encouraging other for-profit corporations to deny health care coverage to their employees based on their owners’ religious beliefs.

“I am deeply disappointed with the Supreme Court’s ruling and will continue working to stop attacks on women’s access to complete health care services and to advance women’s basic rights. This fight is not over.”

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U.S. Rep.  Eliot Engel (D-New York):   “Today, another in a string of bad decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against women’s access to full health care options in the Hobby Lobby case.  Women’s health care decisions should be determined by a woman and her physician.  The Court’s decision is a step backwards for women’s health care, and is an unnecessary weakening of the historic Affordable Care Act.  Women should have access to all available health care options, but a narrow 5-4 decision by the Court limited those necessary choices.”
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U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Florida):  “Employers belong in the workplace, not in an employee’s doctor’s office. Personal decisions about contraception should be between a woman and her physician – not a woman and her supervisor.  Today’s ruling is a sad step backwards for women’s health and individual rights over those of corporate bosses.

“Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), insurance companies are required to provide preventative care, including contraception, with no out-of-pocket costs to individuals. In a lawsuit challenging this provision of the ACA, the owners of Hobby Lobby contended that their religious beliefs prohibited them from covering certain contraceptives in their employee health insurance plans.

“The case made it to the 10th Circuit of Appeal, which wrote in its opinion, ‘We see no reason the Supreme Court would recognize constitutional protection for a corporation’s political expression but not its religious expression.’ (i.e. Citizens United.) Covering birth control or paying a fine, the 10th Circuit decided, counted as a substantial burden on that religious expression, which is the test set by the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, otherwise known as RFRA.

“Today, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision ruling that family held companies are exempt from the contraception mandate of the ACA. The Court specifically said that the ruling could not be used for companies to use their religious beliefs to deny equal rights for same sex couples, mental health coverage, or substance abuse treatment.”

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U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Michigan):  “Today’s Supreme Court ruling undermines a woman’s right to make health decisions that are best for her and her family. This ruling not only limits a woman’s access to contraception, it also makes employees of private corporations vulnerable to discrimination when their employer says that the employee’s rights conflict with their religious beliefs. This is a dangerous precedent to set.”
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U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-New York):  “Today’s Supreme Court decision marks a shocking step backwards for women’s health. Employers will be legally allowed to prevent a female employee from making her own health decisions. Millions of American women will be at risk of having to pay out of pocket for basic contraception, rather than have it covered by health insurance. This is unacceptable. Employers should not be allowed to impose their religious views on employees. This country was founded on the principle that no citizen can force their religious beliefs on another. This decision flies in the face of this sacred tenet. I will do all I can to ensure women’s health choices are where they belong — between a woman and her doctor.”
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U.S.  Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York):  “Today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court is a defeat for women throughout our country and for the religious liberty that is enshrined in our Constitution. Bosses should not be able to make health care decisions about the reproductive choices of their employees. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was intended to be used as a shield, not a sword. No matter how sincerely held a religious belief might be, for-profit employers – like Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood – should not be allowed to wield their beliefs as a means of denying employees access to critical preventive health care services. 99% of all American women use birth control at some point in our lives. Their interests cannot be ignored and must not be cast aside.

“When we passed RFRA in 1993, we sought to restore – not expand – protection for religion. We kept in place the core principle that religion does not excuse for-profit businesses from complying with our laws. Religious belief did not excuse restaurants or hotels from following our civil rights laws in the 1960s or an Amish employer from paying into the Social Security system in the 1980s.

“Today’s ruling will unfortunately mean that for-profit companies will be free to impose their beliefs on others – their employees and patrons – who may not share their beliefs and who will be harmed as result. I am disappointed in the U.S. Supreme Court for today’s ruling. I still believe that these sort of discriminatory actions by for-profit companies are neither protected by RFRA nor the First Amendment.”

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U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois):  “I am extremely disappointed by the Supreme Court’s ruling on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The Supreme Court took the egregious action to grant closely-held, for-profit corporations rights that only people should possess.  Making this more disturbing is that the Court stated that for-profit corporations can exercise religious beliefs to deny women coverage for contraceptives but not exercise them to deny coverage for other basic health services like vaccines and blood transfusions.

“The American people should be appalled at the Court’s willingness to allow corporations to discriminate against the 99 percent of women who use contraceptives at some point in their lives.  By finding that vaccines and blood transfusions – and not contraceptives – must be covered despite religious objections, the Court is saying that women’s health services are different and do not deserve the same consideration as other basic health services.

“Today’s decision also undermines the benefits that employees work for each day.  Allowing for-profit corporations to exclude contraceptives from employees’ health benefits is essentially a pay cut for women who use contraception.  We would not allow employers to stop women from using their earnings to purchase contraceptives but today’s decision allows corporations to place such a restriction on their health benefits.

“This decision also opens the door for more corporations to deny Americans’ benefits under that law that conflict with the corporations’ religious beliefs.  Hobby Lobby is just the tip of the iceberg.  More than 40 lawsuits have been filed by closely-held corporations like Hobby Lobby to deny women coverage for contraceptives and I expect more will be filed to deny women coverage for other basic health services.  Today’s decision put at risk the health care needs and economic well-being of thousands and thousands of women that work for for-profit corporations.  What’s even scarier is that by not defining ‘closely-held corporations’, the Court opens the door to a broad group of corporations who could put additional women’s health at risk.

“Despite today’s major setback, I will continue to work with my colleagues to stand up for women and their right to receive the care they need.”
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U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California): “The Court has said that fictional corporations that exist only on paper have more rights than real people who have real health-care needs.  It’s one more radical judicial step in making it better to be a corporation than a person. It is particularly offensive that the Court does this in a decision that is so personal for a woman:  her decision to have or not have children.  For-profit corporations, no matter the size and structure, should not have the right to limit their female employees access to safe, legal, and critically important health care services.  We must continue to forcefully oppose efforts to roll back women’s rights to make their own health care decisions and work to make sure all Americans have access to the preventive health services they need.”

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U.S.  John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky) “Today’s Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case is an affront to women’s health. The Court has introduced a new threat to women’s reproductive rights, placing the personal religious beliefs of employers over the health care needs of their female employees. No one should come between a woman and her doctor – including her boss.”

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San Diego Jewish World report