Indy Star - Indiana Company Has Much at Stake in Hobby Lobby Case

Op-Ed

By Luke Messer

The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in one of the most important religious liberty cases of our time -- Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. v. Sebelius and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius. These combined cases pose a critical question to the Supreme Court: Can the federal government require business owners to provide life-ending drugs to their employees when doing so contradicts their deeply held religious beliefs? The answer will have far-reaching implications on the religious freedom of millions of Americans and employers.

In America, no right is more fundamental than the right to practice religion freely without government interference. Yet, the Obama administration, through the Affordable Care Act, seeks to dictate how, when and where religious liberty can be exercised.

Under the Affordable Care Act's "contraceptive mandate," businesses that offer employee health insurance must provide plans that cover all federally approved contraception methods, including the morning-after pill -- tantamount to abortion for many Christians. After public outcry, the Department of Health and Human Services' "rule" was amended to exempt churches and other houses of worship, while providing special concessions to some religiously affiliated entities like Catholic hospitals and universities. However, HHS rejected requests to allow other types of employers to exercise their First Amendment right by opting out of the mandate.

One of those employers is Bill Grote of Madison, Ind. Bill is chairman and CEO of Grote Industries, a large employer in Indiana's 6th District. He has filed a lawsuit similar to Hobby Lobby's against HHS and other federal agencies requesting an exemption from Obamacare's contraception mandates that violate his religious beliefs.

Grote Industries faces fines of approximately $928,000 each year if Grote chooses to follow his faith instead of complying with the law. For Hobby Lobby, owned by the Green family, the fine would top $475 million a year. If this isn't an infringement on religious liberty, I don't know what is. When Americans are no longer free to exercise their religious beliefs without fear of government penalty, we are no longer the same nation our Founding Fathers fought so bravely to establish.

Some will argue corporations do not have religious rights -- perhaps that's the case for large, publicly owned entities with hundreds of stake holders. But Grote Industries, Hobby Lobby and other family-owned companies like it are run by individuals whose business model is formed by their religious convictions, and they have every right to act according to their faith.

The Green family cannot force their employees to go to church just like the Grote family cannot prevent their employees from using their paychecks to pay for contraception. Their employees, like all Americans, are free to choose how to spend their time and money. Shouldn't the Green and Grote families be afforded the same freedom?

You have to ask yourself: If the federal government can make these families pay for life-ending contraception against their religious beliefs, what can it force you to do?

Messer, a Republican, represents Indiana's 6th congressional district.

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