Hobby Lobby gets backing from GOP Senators in religious liberty lawsuit against Obama admin.

This is good news for Hobby Lobby. I’m not sure how much difference it will make in the end, but I’m glad they aren’t standing alone in this case:

CNS NEWS – Republican members of Congress have weighed in on the legal battle being waged over the Obamacare mandate requiring employers to provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs to employees.

Eleven senators and congressmen filed an amicus brief, also known as a friend-of-the-court brief, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on Tuesday in support of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a Christian-owned and operated corporation that opposes the mandate based on its owners’ religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby filed suit against Health and Human Services and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Rep. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was one of the lead sponsors of the Religious Freedom Reformation Act of 1993, which he said was designed to protect the religious liberty of all Americans, even those who own corporations or other for-profit businesses.

“As one of the lead sponsors of RFRA, it’s deeply troubling to see this White House trample on the religious freedom the law seeks to protect,” Hatch said in a written statement.

The brief states: “Amici are federal legislators who were part of the broad, bipartisan coalition that enacted the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (“RFRA”). Amici designed and passed RFRA to establish a blanket default rule that would insulate religious liberty from the shifting fortunes of interest-group politics.

“Defendants have ordered that certain employers’ insurance plans must cover all FDA-approved contraceptives without cost-sharing (the “HHS mandate”), but have refused to exempt many employers with sincere religious objections. Amici have an interest in vindicating RFRA’s blanket protections against the selective and stingy approach adopted by Defendants.”

In addition to Hatch, the brief was signed by Sens. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), and Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), and Frank Wolf (R-Va.).

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