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SALT LAKE CITY — The Supreme Court will hear a case Tuesday that could impact the way business owners in Utah are able to exercise their religious freedoms.
The fight is against the Obamacare clause that requires companies to offer contraceptives as part of their insurance plans for employees.
Hobby Lobby is a well-known business in Utah, and in just a few hours its owners, who are devout Southern Baptists, will challenge that health law in the Supreme Court.
Hobby Lobby is expected to tell the Justices that providing certain contraceptives, like IUDs and Plan B pills, violates their religious beliefs.
They don't abandon their constitutional freedoms just because they are trying to earn a living.
–Matt Bowman, lawyer
"They don't abandon their constitutional freedoms just because they are trying to earn a living,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a group that advocates for the right of people to live their faith freely.
Under the Affordable Care Act, companies with more than 50 employees are required to provide free contraceptives as part of its health insurance program.
Nine justices will take the bench Tuesday morning to consider whether denying those employees the free contraceptives violates their rights.
At this point, churches and nonprofits like hospitals or schools run by religious groups, are exempt from the law.
If Hobby Lobby does not offer the contraceptives, they face $475 million in yearly fines.
