WHAT THE HOBBY LOBBY CASE MEANS FOR THE REST OF US

The Hobby Lobby case on the so-called contraceptive mandate may end up having far-reaching consequences for corporate law, but it does not yet.  As it stands, and despite wide pronouncements on the constitutional rights of shareholders in some closely held corporations, the case has a limited reach.

There are a number of reasons for this.

1. It only applies to relatively few employers – those whose members or shareholders all have a given religious belief, and that belief goes against contraception; yet the company grew to be big enough to be covered by ObamaCare’s mandates.  The Hobby Lobbys of the world are few and far between.
2. The case struck down a Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation implementing the Affordable Care Act but did not invalidate any portion of the Act itself.
3. The case only went even that far because it found that there was an alternative to what the objected-to regulation imposed.  HHS has a system in place to pay for contraception for employees of churches and other religious non-profits.  The Court said that, since that was an option, it should also be applied to “religious for-profits,” so to speak.

In the wake of the case, small business owners might be wondering if their religious convictions might allow them to escape laws that offend them.  I respond with caution.  Not only would the conflict between religion and a law meant to be applicable to all have to be evident, but there would also have to be a demonstrable alternative available to achieve the law’s purpose.  It is too early for business-owning families to flock to legal offices with an eye on avoiding otherwise lawful obligations.