On Tuesday, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in the case of Sebelius vs. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. Hobby Lobby is contesting a part of Obamacare that stipulates employers must to provide healthcare that covers all forms of contraception at no cost to their employees. While Hobby Lobby has agreed to offer plans that cover a majority of contraceptives at not cost, the contends providing no-cost access to emergency contraception like Plan B violates their religious freedom. On his Facebook and Twitter accounts yesterday, Glenn encouraged his followers to “pray for those who are taking a stand for religious freedom like Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby."
On radio this morning, Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel joined Glenn to discuss his U.S. Senate campaign against longtime incumbent Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) and the Hobby Lobby case.
In addition to being a FreedomWorks endorsed candidate, McDaniel is particularly expert in Obamacare. In 2010, McDaniel served as the state of Mississippi’s lead council in its lawsuit against Obamacare.
“I represented now governor Phil Bryant in a class action, and we fought Obamacare all the way to the Supreme Court,” McDaniel explained. “I did that free of charge, pro bono, on behalf of the people, on behalf of my governor, and behalf of the Constitution,”
When it comes to the Hobby Lobby case, Glenn asked McDaniel why Americans should be paying attention.
“Religious liberties are fundamental – as fundamental as they get… So we're watching this case very closely because it is a large case in regards to religious liberties. And if an American citizen has a deeply held religious belief, it is absolutely not the right of the government… to force that American citizen to violate those beliefs,” McDaniel said. “To me this case is very simple. To the extent the government tried to violate those beliefs or coerce a person to do something they find objectionable, it is absolutely unconstitutional. We've seen evidence of that in lower court rulings, and I'm hoping the Supreme Court finally has a glimmer of common sense and rules correctly in this regard.”
As McDaniel explained, this case involves courageous Americans standing up not only for their faith but for their rights. For that reason alone, Americans of all backgrounds and ideologies should take notice.
“To be forced to do anything against our deeply held beliefs, is on its face, unconstitutional if you really still believe in the First Amendment as it’s written. And there are those of us that still believe that Amendments mean exactly what they say they mean,” McDaniel said. “We have to learn again to stand up for our rights. They are being eroded. They are being taken away. And we have to find strong courageous people that will say, ‘You know what? We're not going to go down this path any longer. We're going to stands up to this government and stands up to those who would dare reduce our rights.”
You can learn more about McDaniel’s Senate campaign HERE.