“We haven’t seen the rule yet, so we don’t know exactly what they’re doing,” Gretchen Borchelt, the vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Women’s Law Center, told Motto in a phone interview on Tuesday. “But our concern is that it will be some sort of rule to give bosses the ability to use their religious beliefs to take birth control coverage away from women.”
The Trump rule, which Borchelt said the NWLC plans to fight in court once it's formally announced, would target a mandate in the Affordable Care Act that requires all employers to provide birth control, at no cost, to their employees. Democrats claimed in The Times that the mandate has benefitted over fifty million women.
But the mandate has been the focus of a spate of lawsuits, which argue that it violates the religious freedoms of business owners. While many of the challengers were religious organizations, many others were secularly-oriented businesses with leaders personally opposed to the order based on their individual religious beliefs. The craft store chain Hobby Lobby filed a lawsuit against the mandate, which made its way to the Supreme Court. In 2014, the nation’s high court ruled 5-4 in favor of Hobby Lobby and said that “closely held” religious for-profit companies had a right to refuse to pay for contraceptive coverage for their employees. (Most private companies are categorized as “closely held” companies, meaning that they are controlled and operated by a small group of shareholders. Over ninety percent of US businesses are categorized as “closely held” and most are family businesses, according to Inc. magazine.)
“A woman deserves birth control no matter where she works. A boss’ religious beliefs shouldn’t be able to override that benefit,” Borchelt said. “They have been very public on the other side. It’s hard to find an individual willing to speak out, because their jobs are at risk from speaking out publicly against their company. But we know those women are out there, we hear from them every day.”
And there’s a broad scope of the type of companies that have opposed the mandate in the past (the Daily Beast first outlined a list of over eighty companies challenging the mandate in 2014).
Based on an up-to-date database from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and a list published by the National Organization of Women in 2014, here are the secular companies that previously filed lawsuits that argued they should not be required to pay for birth control for their employees on religious grounds. Manufacturing was the most represented industry on the list, which also includes a handful of law firms, car dealerships and an organic food company.
American MFG Co, pump manufacturing company
American Pulverizer Company, systems manufacturer
Annex Medical, medical device manufacturer
Autocam Corp, precision components manufacturer
Barron Industries, metalcasting manufacturer
Beckwith Electric Co, electric company
Bick Holdings, Inc, provides information technology services
Cherry Creek Mortgage Co, mortgage company
Conestoga Wood Specialities Corp, wood products manufacturer
Continuum Health Partnership/Management, operates assisted living facilities
Doboszenski & Sons, excavation company
Dunstone Co., heat shrinkable polyester tape manufacturer
Eden Foods, organic food company
Electrolock Inc, composites or composite processing materials manufacturer
Encompass, Develop, Design & Construct LLC, a construction company
Feltl & Co., Inc., brokerage firm and investment banking firm
Grote, LED light manufacturer
Hart Electric LLC, electric company
Hastings Automotive, car dealership
Hercules Industries Inc., heating and air conditioning manufacturer
Hobby Lobby, arts and craft store chain
Holland Chevrolet, West Virginia car dealership
Infrastructure Alternatives, water and wastewater treatment provider
Johnson Welded Products, motor vehicle parts manufacturer
Korte & Luitjohan Contractors, commercial contractor
Lindsay Rappaport and Postel LLC, civil litigation law firm
M&N Plastics, plastic injection molded products supplier
Mersino Management Company, dewatering and pumping services provider
Midwest Fastener Corp, fastener manufacturer
MK Chambers Company, machining manufacturer
O’Brien Industrial Holdings, manufacturing holdings company
Ozinga, concrete products supplier
QC Group Inc., engineering service company
Randy Reed Automotives, portfolio of auto dealerships
Seneca Hardwood, hardwood floor manufacturer
Sharpe Holdings, Inc., holdings company that owns a variety of businesses, including restaurants, welding shop and graphic design firm
Sioux Chief MFG Co, plumbing manufacturing company
SMA LLC, agricultural and industrial construction company
Stinson Electric, electric company
Tonn and Blank Construction, building construction company
Trijicon, Inc., optical sighting devices for firearm manufacturer
Triune Health Group, health care company
Weingartz Supply Co, outdoor power equipment manufacturer
Willis & Willis PLC, law firm
WLH Enterprises, saw mill
Zumbiel, packaging company
Rico says just what we don't need; more kids by poor people...
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