WKSU News: Democrat Brown is among those pushing Hobby Lobby reversal

Monday, July 14, 2014 Democrat Brown is among those pushing Hobby Lobby reversal Bill is seen as having little chance in the House, but will put Republican and Democratic senators on record by WKSU's M.L. SCHULTZE	Web Editor M.L. Schultze

Brown says the Hobby Lobby decision horrified many who see it as giving corporate control over employees' private lives.

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Senate Democrats are pushing for a vote on a bill early this week that would reverse the recent Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown says the bill shows Democrats understand middle America’s concerns better than the GOP. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports.

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The bill would ban for-profit companies from refusing to cover federally guaranteed health benefits because of the religious convictions of their owners. That includes all 20 forms of birth control, from the pill to an IUD. Sponsor Mark Udall says it is crucial to counter “unprecedented corporate intrusion into our private lives.”

The bill is seen as having little chance of even getting to a vote in the House if it passes the Senate. But Sherrod Brown says it’s an important point to make.

“I think Democrats are outraged as most women I know are outraged by this sort of knee-jerk reaction on the Supreme Court -- if corporate America wants something, they get it. And for a CEO to day my religion prevents me from doing A, B, C, and D is a terrible path to go down.”

The Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act allowed some companies to veto some types of contraception because they view them as a kind of abortion.