Dem Lawmaker: Hobby Lobby Will Lose at Supreme Court Because 'Motherhood Is Not a Hobby'

A Wisconsin Democrat said she’s confident the Supreme Court will rule against Hobby Lobby in its protest of the contraceptive mandate because “motherhood is not a hobby.”

The challenge hinges on whether employers can opt out of the requirement because of the religious convictions of the business owners. Arguments will likely be heard in March with a decision in June.

“I am just optimistic about this. I mean, enough already. The fact that they took Hobby Lobby’s case with this cohort of 46 companies — wooden furniture makers, automotive part makers, I think it says it all. I mean, motherhood is not a hobby. Women’s health is not some arts and craft. I mean, nobody spends more money at the arts and crafts store than I do,” Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) said this morning on MSNBC.

“But I don’t think those owners should, first of all, be able to decide whether or not I’m going to be a mother. And I think people would be surprised to know that great numbers of women are treated for endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, ovarian cysts with birth control. And it should not be up to a for-profit company to decide whether or not you should have birth control available to you. Enough already,” she added.

Moore said she’s so confident of victory “because I think that the First Amendment, we revere it.”

“It protects the rights of religious schools, churches, places of worship. And I think that the sanctity of that is something we all appreciate as Americans,” she said.

“The Hobby Lobby is not one of those institutions. And the Affordable Care Act says that everybody, especially women, ought to have basic health care and birth control is basic health care. I have a sister who we used to tease. At age 70, she was treated for a life- threatening illness with birth control pills. Hobby Lobby should not be able to intervene in that medical care.”

Moore was asked about Hobby Lobby’s argument that they express their faith in every aspect of their business, and oppose funding things like the Plan B morning-after pill — thus exercising their freedom of religion.

“I think the notion of the First Amendment, I’m not a lawyer, is that, you know, you don’t impose a state religion on everybody. So that if, you know, if I believe that at age 24, and I’ve got three kids that I need to use birth control so that I don’t have a fourth, that’s — that’s — you can’t impose your religious beliefs on me, Hobby Lobby, that I ought to have a fourth or a fifth child because that’s what you believe,” the congresswoman said.

“Freedom is freedom. And I think that we find there are conflicts of rights when we start saying that a for-profit company’s beliefs supersede my own individual religious beliefs or not.”