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More than 40 Coalition for Liberty & Justice Member Organizations Urge Supreme Court to Reject Challenges to Contraceptive Coverage

March 25, 2014

As the Supreme Court begins to hear arguments from Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp., 44 members of the Coalition for Liberty & Justice, a broad alliance of faith-based, secular and other national organizations, endorsed the statement below in support of real religious liberty for all. If you would like to contact any of the coalition members, please see the media contact list following the statement.

On March 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in lawsuits brought by Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a national arts-and-crafts chain, and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp., a cabinet manufacturer. The cases challenge the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that insurance plans include coverage for contraception with no co-pay, which was designed to advance women’s health and equality. We, the undersigned members of the Coalition for Liberty & Justice, express our support for the right of all workers and their dependents to access contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act and to make personal decisions about using contraception based on their own beliefs. We oppose the corporations’ attempts to invoke their owners’ religious beliefs to undermine women’s health and equality and interfere in their personal decision-making. Corporations should not be permitted to impose religious views on their employees.

We represent a diverse cross-section of communities, including faith-based and secular groups as well as those dedicated to LGBT rights, women’s rights, separation of church and state, civil rights and reproductive rights and justice. We are united in our belief that public policies should both respect religious liberty and protect against the use of religious beliefs to discriminate or undermine equality. We believe that true religious liberty respects individuals, supports the common good and reflects the foundational principles of our nation.

We therefore strongly support the rights of female workers and their dependents to follow their consciences, moral codes and beliefs when making a decision about contraception and oppose the plaintiffs’ attempts to interfere in this personal decision-making. We hope the Supreme Court will reject the corporations’ challenges to the contraceptive coverage regulations.

Signed,

Americans for Religious Liberty

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Association of Reproductive Health Professionals

Call To Action

Catholics for Choice

Center for Inquiry

Center for Reproductive Rights

Coalition of Labor Union Women

Concerned Clergy for Choice

CORPUS

DignityUSA

Faith Aloud

GetEQUAL Action

Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc.

Human Rights Campaign

Ibis Reproductive Health

Institute for Science and Human Values

Interfaith Alliance

Keshet

Law Students for Reproductive Justice

Medical Students for Choice

Metropolitan Community Churches Public Policy Team

MergerWatch

Methodist Federation for Social Action

Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers

Muslims for Progressive Values

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum

National Center for Lesbian Rights

National Council of Jewish Women

National Council of Women’s Organizations

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

National Organization for Women (NOW) Foundation

National Women’s Health Network

Nehirim

New Ways Ministry

Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

Religious Institute

Reproductive Health Technologies Project

Secular Coalition for America

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S.

Society for Humanistic Judaism

Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual

Women’s League for Conservative Judaism

Media Contacts