The Supreme Court ruled on Monday in favor of Christian business owners wanting relief on religious grounds from the Affordable Care Act's contraception coverage rules, concluding that corporations cannot be forced to comply with the invasive mandate.
The case is a major win for religious employers and a loss for the Obama administration and the pro abortion agenda. Supporters of the Greens, the family that owns the Hobby Lobby craft stores chain, and who are devout Baptist, and the Hahn family, owners of the Conestoga Wood Specialties cabinet-making business in Pennsylvania, and who are committed Mennonites, found the decision to be a good start against the Obama administrations invasive policies when it comes to religious freedom. The two families came to represent many who believe that Obamacare's mandate that companies provided insurance plans that provide a long list of birth control options violates core religious beliefs.
Christians were celebrating across America after the ruling.
Kristina Garza, Director of Campus Outreach for Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust whose group held a rally in support at the Hobby Lobby in Anaheim Hills, Ca., called the ruling, "the most important religious freedom and First Amendment case to be decided by the Supreme Court in decades."
"As we gather at Hobby Lobby today, we celebrate religious freedom, the First Amendment, and the rights of Americans to do business according to their consciences, free from government interference or harassment," She said.
In Chicago on Monday , the Stand Up For Religious Freedom organization held a rally for 'Citizens who cherish religious liberty and oppose the HHS contraceptive mandate,' according to organizers, while in Hartford Conn., the Family Institute of Connecticut plans a victory rally tonight.
Family Institute's Peter Wolfgang calls the ruling a big win for freedom.
"Two years ago, the federal government announced a mandate requiring employers to pay for and provide abortion-inducing drugs even if it violates their First Amendment right to religious liberty." he said. "Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that pro-life Americans do not lose their religious freedom when they open a family business. While other challenges to the HHS Mandate are still pending, today's rulings are a big win for freedom."
Even in Washington, just a short distance from where the ruling was made, people are praising God for the decision.
In response to the Court's decision the Reverend Dr. Rob Schenck of Faith and Action, and minister to top officials in Washington, and other clergy, held a prayer service of thanksgiving in front of the United States Supreme Court today.
"It is a good day in America," Rev. Schenck said, after listening to the majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito and examining a printed copy from the Court clerk's office. "The highest court in our land has carried out its duty as the guardian of our most cherished, God-given, unalienable rights."
