Lawyer For Hobby Lobby: 'Women Of Faith...Are Rejoicing' Over SCOTUS Contraception Ruling
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – On Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Chris Stigall spoke with Adele Keim from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty who represented Hobby Lobby in their case against the federal government's mandate that they provide certain types of birth control they object to for their employees.
Keim said the ruling has broader implications that just contraceptive coverage.
"It was a great day for religious freedom. Religious freedom isn't just protected in the United States in our Bill of Rights; it's protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It's one of the fundamental rights that we all have as human beings. What the court said yesterday was you don't lose your fundamental human rights just because you decided to open a family business in the seventies and incorporate it to protect your assets. That's a protection for all of us," she commented.
She disagreed with criticism of the court that says their ruling injured women and pointed out that some of the lead plaintiffs in the case were women.
"These are women of deep faith and they were saddened and troubled by the government's insistence that they violate their faith and by the government's decision to ignore their religious freedom. Judges, men and women across the country, recognized that this was a violation of their religious freedom. Two out of the four courts of appeals to weigh in on this issue did so in opinions written by women judges…Women were at the forefront of bringing these cases, women judges, along with their male colleagues, voted to protect religious liberty in these cases and I think women of faith across the country have been deeply encouraged and are rejoicing today because of the outcome of these cases," Kiem said.
Keim called this ruling an affirmation of the First Amendment.
"The great thing about the First Amendment is, even if you have an odd stance, the First Amendment protects your right. We like to say at The Becket Fund that the First Amendment protects your right to be wrong about many things, but in this case there's no question that [Plaintiffs in the case] the Greens and Hahns have an understandable religious exercise that, I think, most fair minded people can look at it objectively and say, okay I get that," she said.