By Constitution Staff

Just before Christmas, attorneys for Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and provide temporary relief from a $1.3 million per day fine. The Oklahoma City-based retail chain faces the fine for failing to comply with mandates of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as ObamaCare. Hobby Lobby sought to have the federal government halt enforcement of the mandates until its court case challenging the regulations is decided by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

On December 26, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who hears emergency appeals for the U.S. 10th Circuit Court, refused to block the regulations. But, the company, whose evangelical Christian owners say they object to the mandates on religious grounds, said it would refuse to comply. According to the PPACA, failure to abide by the regulations can result in fines of $100 per day per employee. Hobby Lobby is one of several for-profit companies that filed lawsuits against the regulations on religious grounds, but is one of the few not to be granted a temporary injunction.

In addition to many nonprofit religious groups, 12 for-profit plaintiffs have filed suit, and nine have been granted injunctions, including the evangelical publisher Tyndale and a Mennonite cabinet manufacturer. The Hobby Lobby case has been closely watched by religious groups because it is likely to dictate how ObamaCare regulations will be applied to non-religious businesses with religious owners who claim that the law violates their conscience. With over 13,000 full-time employees, Hobby Lobby is by far the largest of the private companies protesting the law. Along with several other plaintiffs, it is represented by the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance in religious-liberty cases.

In early January, the company announced it was delaying updates to its employee health plans in an effort to temporarily avoid the fines. According to the regulations, the mandates do not go into effect until the health plans are updated in 2013.

The company filed the federal lawsuit on September 12 against the Obama administration over the regulations issued for implementation of the PPACA. The Department of Health and Human Services rules require health insurance companies to cover preventive care services, including contraception, to women at no cost.

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting the mandate's enforcement against the Green family and its businesses, "and other individuals and organizations that object on religious grounds to providing insurance coverage for abortion-causing drugs and devices, and related education and counseling." The rules require religious employers to pay for or refer women for abortion-causing drugs, violating their conscience or religious beliefs.

The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. The suit named three federal agencies along with their cabinet-level heads as defendants: the Department of Health and Human Services and Kathleen Sebelius; the Department of Labor and Hilda Solis; and the Treasury Department and Timothy Geithner. The lawsuit claims the federal Health and Human Services mandate violates the business owners' freedoms of religion and speech. On November 19, district court judge Joe Heaton denied Hobby Lobby's request for an injunction. The case was immediately appealed to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

The company says the mandates forces the Christian-owned business to provide, without co-pay, the "morning after pill" and "week after pill" in their health benefits. "These abortion-causing drugs go against our faith, and our family is now being forced to choose between following the laws of the land that we love or maintaining the religious beliefs that have made our business successful and have supported our family and thousands of our employees and their families," said David Green, Hobby Lobby CEO and founder. "We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate." Hobby Lobby is the only non-Catholic-owned business to file a lawsuit against the mandate.

Washington politicians cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living, said Lori Windham, Senior Counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. "Every American, including family business owners like the Greens, should be free to live and do business according to their religious beliefs."

The arts and crafts retailer operates from a mile-long distribution and manufacturing complex in Oklahoma City. It began as Greco Products, a miniature picture frame company founded in a garage by David Green in 1970. Hobby Lobby officially began operation in 1972 with a single store and has been growing ever since. Today, Hobby Lobby has 514 stores in 41 states offering more than 65,000 crafting and home decor products. The company also includes 35 Mardel stores which sell Christian books and education supplies in seven states.

Green says, "the foundation of our business has been, and will continue to be strong values, and honoring the Lord in a manner consistent with Biblical principles." The Greens, who close of all of their stores on Sunday, have long been public about their religious beliefs. "We believe wholeheartedly that it is by God's grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has been successful," says Green.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-profit, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions -- from Anglicans to Zoroastrians. For 18 years its attorneys have been recognized as experts in the field of church-state law, and they recently won a 9-0 victory in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, which The Wall Street Journal called one of "the most important religious liberty cases in a half century." The Becket Fund led the charge against the unconstitutional HHS mandate, and in addition to Hobby Lobby represents: Wheaton College, Belmont Abbey College, Colorado Christian University, the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), and Ave Maria University.