The Contraceptive Mandate in the Supreme Court: Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.

Summary: The contraceptive mandate case is being argued in the U.S. Supreme Court next week. Hobby Lobby Stores is an incorporated chain of arts and crafts supply stores. Its owners have no moral or other objection to the use of 16 of 20 contraceptives required by the contraceptive mandate, but cite their deeply held religious beliefs in objecting to providing or paying for four others they see as possibly life-threatening. Does the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), which provides that the government “shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion” unless that burden is the least restrictive means to further a compelling governmental interest, allow Hobby Lobby to deny its employees the health coverage of those contraceptives? Our experts previewed the merits of the case on the eve of oral arguments. -- Featuring: Prof. Stephen M. Bainbridge, University of California at Los Angeles School of Law; Prof. Gerard V. Bradley, University of Notre Dame Law School; Prof. Martin S. Lederman, Georgetown University Law Center; and Prof. Nelson Tebbe, Brooklyn Law School