Hobby Lobby vs. Obamacare

So now it seems the Catholics aren't the only ones upset about the Obamacare/HHS proclamation which requires employers to include contraceptive devices and medication in their health insurance plan. The founders of Hobby Lobby consider themselves evangelical Christians and are not pleased with this government mandate.

Note, they are not storming government offices and setting them on fire. They are not protesting in the streets. They are proceeding in a civil manner and allowing the courts to decide.

"The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Oklahoma, seeks a permanent injunction against the government on behalf of Hobby Lobby and other companies that have religious convictions against abortion.

"These abortion-causing drugs go against our faith," said David Green, founder and chief executive officer of Hobby Lobby Stores Inc, in a call with reporters. "We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate."

For what it's worth, this fiercely Republican state is not in play for the Obama team in the upcoming election so one wonders if this move will get much press or attention.

Hobby Lobby is facing a January 1 deadline to comply with the mandate. Should it refuse, it would face a penalty of up to $1.3 million per day, under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a lawyer representing the company said.

The company, which has 13,240 employees in 41 states, is based in Oklahoma City, where it began in 1972. It funds a variety of Christian charities, closes its stores on Sundays and plays inspirational Christian music in its stores.

That's one heckuva penalty. Except the court has decided it is a tax.

The privately owned company, which is self-insured, does not object to providing preventive birth-control coverage to its employees and only objects to drugs such as the morning-after and week-after pill that prevent a fertilized human egg from implantation, Duncan said.

So now the government will be put in a position of deciding which contraceptive medications are inclusive in the law and which are not.

This Obamacare thing is becoming a rather expensive . . . hobby.