The religion of a corporate person

Two cases have been accepted by the Supremes that are of indirect interest to us. Both have to do with religious exemptions and the Affordable Care Act. The retail chain Hobby Lobby wants an exemption from the requirement in the ACA that mandates availability of and coverage for contraception. Spokespersons for the company say they want the exemption on religious grounds. Lawyer Ari Exra Waldman explains why it matters.

Yes, it makes sense for a Southern Baptist Church to refuse to marry gay people. It also makes sense for the Catholic Church to refuse contraceptives to its employees. These exemptions are an essential part of the institution's message.

Hobby Lobby bases it's claim to an exemption by saying the corporation is a person under the law and, as affirmed in the Citizens United case, that corporate person has free speech rights granted by the First Amendment.

Also in the First Amendment is the free exercise of religion and a corporate person should have that right too. Therefore if contraception violates religious beliefs of the corporation, that corporation should be exempted from providing contraceptives.

Rubbish, says Waldman. He wrote:

Certain clauses only apply in certain situations, to certain actors, given certain contexts. To transport one doctrine to an entirely separate area of social and legal life is too simple and just wrong.

In addition, it makes sense to exempt churches where banning contraception is central to the organization's message. But Hobby Lobby's message is the sale of merchandise and contraception is irrelevant to business.

The reason why we should be concerned is simple. The same people in a snit over contraception also want legal permission to discriminate against us.

Commenters offer a few more thoughts.

Why do the religious beliefs of the employer get to trump the religious beliefs of the employee? That's especially important since the employer doesn't cover 100% of the employee's medical costs.

One reason for creating a corporation is to legally separate the business from the owner. Why then should the owner's religious beliefs have anything to do with the business?

If an employer can deny contraceptives can it also deny HIV treatment?

Why do Hobby Lobby's religious beliefs not extend to its business with China? The chain buys lots of its merchandise there and they have this one-child policy.

Hmm… six of nine justices are Roman Catholic.

Hearings haven't been held yet. A ruling probably won't be announced until June.