Reactions to Hobby Lobby Case From Conservative Leaders

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:

Today’s Supreme Court decision makes clear that the Obama administration cannot trample on the religious freedoms that Americans hold dear. ObamaCare is the single worst piece of legislation to pass in the last 50 years, and I was glad to see the Supreme Court agree that this particular ObamaCare mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

Becket Fund Press Release:

“This is a landmark decision for religious freedom. The Supreme Court recognized that Americans do not lose their religious freedom when they run a family business,” said Lori Windham, Senior Counsel for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and counsel for Hobby Lobby. “This ruling will protect people of all faiths. The Court’s reasoning was clear, and it should have been clear to the government. You can’t argue there are no alternative means when your agency is busy creating alternative means for other people.” The decision also has important implications for over 50 pending lawsuits brought by non-profit religious organizations.

Speaker John Boehner:

Today's decision is a victory for religious freedom and another defeat for an administration that has repeatedly crossed constitutional lines in pursuit of big government. The President's health care law remains an unworkable mess and a drag on our economy.

Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman:

The central issue of this case was whether the federal government can coerce Americans to violate their deeply held religious beliefs, and thankfully the Court has upheld the proper limits on the government’s power. The fact that Americans had to bring this case in the first place reveals once again just how intrusive ObamaCare is.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz:

This ruling is a repudiation of the Obama Administration’s untenable position that people with sincerely held religious beliefs should be forced to comply with an unconstitutional mandate while a parade of waivers, exemptions, and delays are granted for purely commercial and political interests. In making this ruling the Court relied on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was passed with broad bipartisan support, proving the strength and necessity of the legislation and showing the nation the effectiveness members of Congress can have when they work together to protect religious liberty.

Curt Levy, President of Committee for Justice:

Finally, today’s decision is another legal setback for President Obama’s “pen and phone” strategy of focusing on aggressive, unilateral executive branch actions – rather than working with Congress – and comes just four days after the Court unanimously rejected his attempt to expand the president’s recess appointment power. The contraception mandate at issue in Hobby Lobby was not contained in the ObamaCare law enacted by Congress; instead it was the result of aggressive rule making by President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services.

Jay Sekulow, ACLJ:

The court clearly recognized that closely-held corporations enjoy religious liberty rights just as they enjoy rights to free speech. American citizens do not lose their religious freedom when they form a corporation and try to live out their religious values in the conduct of their business.

Ed Whelan, The National Review:

This ruling will not lead to the parade of horribles that the dissent trots out. Justice Ginsburg, in her wildly overwrought dissent, offers a compatible reading on this narrow point, as she asserts that the government has shown that there is no less restrictive means that would “satisfy the challengers’ religious objections to providing insurance coverage for certain contraceptives.