What the legal fight over contraception coverage says about the Supreme Court

No one should be surprised when the court's conservatives impale this ObamaCare provision

Supreme Court
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Gary Cameron))

It was inevitable that the so-called "contraception mandate" cases argued yesterday at the United States Supreme Court would generate intense interest and debate. After all, the cases center on three of the most contentious issues of our time: the scope of the Affordable Care Act, the shape of religious freedom in the workplace, and the burgeoning "personal" rights of private corporations. No wonder the most conservative, corporatist court in 75 years was so eager to take these cases.

The question of the day — the question of the past hundred days in and out of Washington — was whether the government could enforce against private companies led by religiously devout executives a requirement under the Affordable Care Act that employee health plans provide no-cost, pregnancy-related coverage to women. The executives of these companies, including Hobby Lobby, have complained that the requirement unduly and unlawfully burdens their religious beliefs by forcing them to endorse certain practices — like contraception — which they oppose.

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Andrew Cohen is a contributing editor at The Atlantic, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, and a legal analyst for 60 Minutes and CBS Radio News. He has covered the law and justice beat since 1997 and was the 2012 winner of the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award for commentary.