Scott Expresses Concern over Continued Threats to Preventive Health Benefits for Women

Press Release

Today the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of the Treasury finalized regulations that allow closely held for-profit corporations with religious objections to opt out of providing coverage for some or all contraceptive services to their female employees. These regulations were issued following the 2014 Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., that the owners of closely-held, for-profit corporations cannot be forced to provide their employees with certain kinds of contraceptives that offend the company's religious beliefs.

The Hobby Lobby case challenged the preventive services provision in the Affordable Care Act that ensured all newly issued health-insurance plans provided coverage for contraceptive services at no cost to consumers, recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott issued the following statement on the final regulations:

"The regulations issued today remind us of the harm caused by the Hobby Lobby decision and the continued use of the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) to erode civil rights laws and protections for Americans. In 1993, RFRA passed Congress with the support of a broad left-right coalition which resulted in heightened protections for "religious liberty'. The legislation required that government action may only substantially burden a person's religious exercise if it is in the furtherance of a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive means to achieve that interest. To be clear, the original intent was to restore the strict scrutiny standard for religious exercise, and specifically provide protection for religious minorities. At the time, there was no indication that civil rights provisions and public accommodations would not be considered compelling government interests.

"While our nation allows for all people to freely practice their religion, freedom of religion is not an excuse to impose one's religion on others. RFRA was never meant to trump the civil rights and health protections that Americans have, and women shouldn't have to sacrifice their health or their rights because of their boss's personal beliefs. Unfortunately, these regulations grant for-profit corporations free rein to impose their religious beliefs on their employees. There is a difference between exercising your own religious beliefs and imposing those beliefs on others.

"The debate in states such as Indiana and Arkansas -- in tandem with threats to access to reproductive health services after the Hobby Lobby decision -- proves it is time for Congress to reexamine the overreach of RFRA, its implementation at the federal and state level, and its effect on civil rights protections."

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