Written by Don Byrd
Tomorrow is a big day for a central legislative piece of the religious liberty puzzle. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pair of contraception coverage mandate challenges brought by for-profit companies whose owners object on religious grounds to providing such coverage. They argue that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) prohibits the government from enforcing the mandate against them because it would substantially burden their religious exercise without being necessary to achieve a compelling state interest.
Be sure and come back tomorrow for comprehensive coverage of the oral arguments, including highlights from the transcript. Until then, because this dispute has generated such public controversy, the Internet is abuzz with Supreme Court previews and commentary today. Below is a sampling to get you up to speed.
I recommend starting with the Baptist Joint Committee’s important perspective on RFRA as it relates to these cases. Executive Director Brent Walker writes: “RFRA’s constitutionality called into question.” General Counsel K. Hollyn Hollman writes: “BJC supports strong legal standard in contraception cases.”
Here are some other previews and opinions:
SCOTUSblog’s Lyle Denniston: “Argument Preview: Religion, Rights and the Workplace“
LATimes’ David Savage: “Religious case at Supreme Court could affect Obamacare and much more.”
The Christian Science Monitor’s Warren Richey: “Affordable Care Act and birth control: Can corporatons assert religious rights?“
USA Today op-ed from Ken Starr: “Obamacare shackles religious liberty“
Washington Post op-ed from Walter Dellinger: “Contraception as a test of equality“
NYTimes editorial board: “Crying wolf on religious liberty“
Tomorrow should be an interesting day. My hope is that the Court can spend some time focused on the heart of the case: the scope and legal standard of RFRA, and avoid some of the rhetoric of dire predictions coming from both sides. Stay tuned.
