{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=25bc7fc2-59c6-4772-9a3d-9b7d9cfe684e", "St. Joseph News-Press: Blunt greets high-court decision to hear religious freedom case", "2013-11-26", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Ken Newton \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tMissouri Sen. Roy Blunt hailed the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to hear a case regarding the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act.\u00a0\r\nThe high court granted a \u201cwrit of certiorari\u201d in the case pitting Kathleen Sebelius, the cabinet secretary overseeing health-care reforms, and Hobby Lobby Stores, an Oklahoma-based company claiming provisions in the new law violate religious principles.\u00a0\r\nMr. Blunt has continually advocated the position that the Affordable Care Act forces some companies to act in ways contrary to their owners\u2019 religious beliefs. Last year, he introduced the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, calling the mandates a violation of First Amendment rights of faith.\u00a0\r\nThe Republican lawmaker said Tuesday that the Senate\u2019s failure to act on his and other legislation regarding religious freedom guaranteed that the Supreme Court would be called upon to decide the matter.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe (Health and Human Services) mandate is an enormous government overreach, and it violates Americans\u2019 constitutional rights,\u201d Mr. Blunt said in a statement. \u201cEmployers should not be forced to choose between giving up their business for their faith or giving up their faith for their business.\u201d\u00a0\r\nThe federal agency appealed the case from the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which held that the private businesses could make claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and had established \u201ca likelihood of success\u201d in proving their rights had been burdened by the contraceptive-coverage requirement.\u00a0\r\nVarious interest groups staked out their own claims on learning of the high court\u2019s granting of a hearing.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe choice about whether to use birth control should be between a woman and her doctor, and no boss should be able to interfere,\u201d said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.\u00a0\r\nShe added, \u201cIf the Supreme Court rules in favor of the corporations, the ruling will open the door to businesses denying coverage, based on their owners\u2019 personal beliefs, for a whole host of other medical procedures to which their employees are entitled.\u201d\u00a0\r\nDavid Green, the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, which has a store in St. Joseph, said his family finds encouragement in the court\u2019s decision to hear the case.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThis legal challenge has always remained about one thing and one thing only: the right of our family businesses to live out our sincere and deeply held religious convictions as guaranteed by the law and the Constitution,\u201d he said in a statement.\u00a0\r\nSupreme Court documents framed the constitutional argument this way: \u201cThe question presented is whether (the religious freedom law) allows a for-profit corporation to deny its employees the health coverage of contraceptives to which the employees are otherwise entitled by federal law, based on the religious objections of the corporation\u2019s owners.\u201d\r\nRead more here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=25bc7fc2-59c6-4772-9a3d-9b7d9cfe684e"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.7642620261758566, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}