Democrats in the Senate are fast-tracking a bill to reverse the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision. The measure would say that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act would not apply to contraceptive coverage so that religious organizations would be forced to provide them.
Though the Republican-controlled House of Representatives would surely not pass the bill, the Democratic-controlled Senate probably will, giving more ammunition for the Democratic propaganda that Republicans are engaged in a “war on women.”
From Democrats Fast-Track Bill To Override Hobby Lobby Decision:
Senate Democrats are expediting legislation that would override the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case and compel for-profit employers to cover the full range of contraception for their employees, as required by the Affordable Care Act.
The bill, which is co-authored by Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.), would ban for-profit companies from refusing to cover any federally guaranteed health benefits for religious reasons, including all 20 forms of contraception detailed in the Affordable Care Act. It would preserve the contraception mandate’s current exemption for churches and accommodation for non-profit religious organizations, such as certain hospitals and schools.
A Senate aide told HuffPost that the bill will be introduced Wednesday morning and will go directly to the Senate floor as early as next week, without being considered in committee. . . .
Murray and Udall’s bill would override the Supreme Court’s decision and state that no federal law, including RFRA, permits for-profit employers to refuse to comply with federal health coverage requirements. The senators worked with the Obama administration, other Democratic lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates to draft the legislation. . . .
Even if the bill passes the Senate, it is unlikely to get a vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. But Democrats hope it will at least make senators go on record supporting or opposing universal birth control coverage.
HT: Jackie
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