January 28, 2014
By Hemant Mehta
When the Affordable Care Act went into effect, it exempted religious organizations from having to fulfill the contraceptive requirement. In other words, if you were a pastor of a large church, you didn’t have to provide your employees with birth control if it went against your religious “conscience.”
The ACA did not offer the same exemption to public, for-profit companies owned by religious people — as well it shouldn’t have. Just because the owner of a huge company like, say, Hobby Lobby, is an evangelical Christian, why should he be able to withhold contraception from those who work for him? The company’s purpose isn’t to promote Christianity.
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A joint brief filed by the Center For Inquiry, American humanist Association, American Atheists, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, and the Institute for Science and Human Values sides with the government. They all agree that RFRA doesn’t extend to corporations.
To read this entire article by The Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta, click here.