Maloney decries Hobby Lobby decision

Press Contact: Mike Morosi (202) 225-7944

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius.

“The Supreme Court just put employers in between a woman and her doctor. The conservative members of the Court have declared that employers at closely held corporations may impose their own religious views on the health care choices of employees and restrict a person’s medical insurance coverage so that it doesn’t offend the boss’s personal beliefs. To that message they attached an annual bill for $269—the average increase in out-of-pocket costs for contraception that millions of women may face as a result of this deeply flawed decision.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in this case has chilling implications that extend far beyond a woman’s access to health care and contraception. It invites corporations to discriminate against their employees based on the personal religious beliefs of bosses. It invites religious objections to further critical health care benefits and other federal laws that are against the boss' personal preferences. It is a step in the wrong direction, and further demonstration of the backward thinking of the Court's majority.”