ICC Note: The case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby was debated by the Supreme Court on Tuesday in Washington D.C. The case has garnered widespread attention as the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby, a major retail chain in the United States, reject the provision of the new health care law that forced them to provide insurance to employees which covers abortion inducing drugs. Hobby Lobby owners say providing such coverage would clearly go against their deeply held religious beliefs, but under the current law failure to provide the insurance would result in hundreds of millions of dollars of fines every year for the company. 
3/25/2014 United States (Christian Post) – Supporters of two companies suing the Health and Human Services Department over its “preventive services” mandate are “encouraged” by the responses they received from members of the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments.
Hobby Lobby Inc. and Conestoga Woods had their case against HHS argued on a wintry Tuesday morning before the Court.
The two companies are arguing that the HHS mandate violates their religious liberty by compelling the family owned companies to provide certain contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs that they hold moral objections to.
Barbara Green, a member of the family that heads Hobby Lobby, said in a statement read before those gathered outside the Supreme Court building that she was “encouraged” by the arguments.
“We were encouraged by today’s argument. We are thankful that the Supreme Court took our case and we prayerfully await the Justices’ decision,” said Green.
The Rev. Rob Schenck, president and lead missionary of Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capital, was with those gathered inside the chambers.
Referring to the healthcare law mandate as an “egregious violation of our God-given rights,” Schenck explained to those gathered that he felt encouraged by the proceedings.
“As I listened to the exchange with the Justices on the bench, I took very careful note. Its very clear that this decision will rest with Justice Kennedy once again,” said Schenck.
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