Can corporations be saved?

Through incredible mental contortion, many conservatives have insisted that contraceptives, contrary to medical science, cause
abortions.

The argument has become the basis of Hobby Lobby’s suit against the Affordable Care Act, which the Supreme Court has agreed to hear. According to the Green family, who owns the oddly named craft store, they’re fine with 14 of the 20 types of contraceptives covered by Obamacare, but not drugs like Plan B and Ella, because those kill babies.

But these “abortifacients” are nothing of the sort.
The morning- and week- after pills prevent pregnancy by preventing ovulation. They keep the sperm and egg from ever meeting, which is not the same abortion. There is no evidence that these medications work after conception has occurred.

But let’s ignore the fact that Hobby Lobby’s claim has no basis in science and look at the law their case will be testing.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 was meant to clarify and strengthen Americans’ First Amendment rights by acknowledging that laws apparently neutral toward religion can inhibit its practice.

The law states, “Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability” unless “that application of the burden to the person furthers a compelling governmental interest” and “is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”

I know Hobby Lobby is not a person, and you know Hobby Lobby is not a person, but legally it is. Back in 2010, a case commonly known as Citizens United classified corporations as people in order to protect their right to donate money to politicians.  
I know. It makes no sense to me, either.

I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure no matter who you worship, all corporations don’t go to heaven. God knows corporations aren’t people.
Corporations exist as a legal buffer between the people who run a company and the company itself. It was an effective way to ensure the longevity and success of a business.

Now that corporations are people, too, suddenly they have rights that apparently need protecting. Rights like religious freedom.

A corporation has no way of deciding what religion it should believe in. Corporate leadership just assigns its own beliefs to the company. This erodes the separation between corporations and the people who run them, negating why corporations exist in the first place.

Beyond that, siding with Hobby Lobby’s claim would put a corporation’s “religious liberty” above actual people’s well-being, which brings me to the exception clauses of the RFRA.

Universal access to contraception “furthers a compelling governmental interest” called reduced inequality, reduced poverty and happier citizenry.

Access to contraception gives families the power to decide when they want baby to make three. Planned babies tend to be healthier, and their families more financially stable. These are two things that make for a better future, both for that child and for our country.

It’s just good public policy.

So sorry, Hobby Lobby, I don’t care about your devotion to Jesus or Brahmin or Xenu or whatever, actual people should always come first.

­— casefarr@indiana.edu
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