Yahoo USA Top Latest News - Both the Hobby Lobby case which concerned the intersection of women's rights, religious freedom, and Obamacare and the Harris case, about the future of labor unions, were 5-4 decisions.
Five Republican appointees for the owners of Hobby Lobby (and against the unions). Monday's Supreme Courtdecision enabling some private companies to opt out of the federal health law's contraception coverage requirements ignited partisan dueling over not just the 2010 health-care law but over a 1993 religious-freedom law cited in the decision.
The high court's decision in the Hobby Lobby case refocused attention on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that passed Congress overwhelmingly in 1993, with the support of some lawmakers still serving in both the House and Senate.
The United States Supreme Court - The Supreme Court's majority agreed, citing the religious-freedom law in its decision.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the lead Republican sponsor of the religious-freedom law when it passed the Senate in a 97-3 vote, said Monday's decision affirmed Congress' decision to pass the law in the first place.
The 1993 law refers to "persons" and the Obama administration contended that the law doesn't include for-profit companies like Hobby Lobby.
In the brief, the Democrats had urged the court to clarify that the religious-freedom law doesn't permit for-profit businesses to deny health coverage to their employees based on their owners' religious objections.
Republicans had filed their own briefs supporting the challengers and arguing that the health law's mandate violated the religious-freedom law.
The law in question was originally intended to nullify a decision from Justice Antonin Scalia in the early 1990s that denied religious exemptions from generally applicable laws. - The United States Supreme Court
