The Supreme Court’s decision to allow Hobby Lobby and other closely-held companies to duck out of Obamacare mandates that supposedly violate their religious beliefs–such as providing emergency contraception–turned on a loophole in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Earlier today, Democrats in both the House and Senate introduced a bill intended to close that loophole.
Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) announced this morning that they had introduced the Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act. The bill, drafted with the help of the White House, would bar for-profit employers from refusing to cover any health benefit that is guaranteed under federal law. It does not amend RFRA. Rather, it states that employers cannot use other federal laws, including RFRA, to refuse to comply with Obamacare requirements. Churches and faith-based nonprofits would still be exempt from the contraception requirement. However, the bill restores the more narrow exemptions for those groups that existed prior to last Monday’s ruling. Companion legislation is being introduced in the House by Democrats Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Jerry Nadler (D-N. Y.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N. Y.) Read a summary of the bill on Murray’s Website.
Murray, the loudest Senate critic of the Hobby Lobby decision, minced no words yesterday when she announced she was putting the finishing touches on the proposed bill.
“Your health care decisions are not your boss’s business. Since the Supreme Court decided it will not protect women’s access to health care, I will.”
According to ThinkProgress, the bill is being fast-tracked, so it will bypass committee and go directly to the Senate floor–possibly as early as next week. It remains to be seen whether the bill will overcome an all-but-certain Republican filibuster, and it may not even see the light of day in the Republican-controlled House. But that suits Majority Leader Harry Reid just fine. Reid, who joined 34 other Democrats–including the entire Senate Democratic leadership–in co-sponsoring this bill, aid that he intends to force his colleagues to go on record, and soon.
Senate Democrats were able to act quickly to draft a legislative fix because the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision turned exclusively on RFRA, not on the First Amendment. In addition to this law, ThinkProgress suggests that Democrats may introduce legislation that directly amends RFRA. The Center for American Progress, ThinkProgress’ parent organization, has proposed clarifying language to the 1993 law that would bar the use of religious exemptions that would “discriminate against, impose costs on, or otherwise harm others, including those who may belong to other religions and/or adhere to other beliefs.” With several companies suing to get out of covering any form of birth control, not just the forms covered in the Hobby Lobby decision, this bill couldn’t have come sooner.
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Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
