Obama's Affordable Healthcare Act reform began on August 1, 2012, reigniting the uproar from religious institutions. The reform states that businesses and insurers must now cover a range of women's health services, including birth control and abortifacients. Women are no longer responsible for co-pays or deductibles after they renew their insurance policies. The Roman Catholic Church and owners of private businesses are outraged, but the law states that business must comply even if they are run by people who object on religious grounds. If not, they face a daily fine of $100 per employee (MacDonald).
"President Obama is moving our country forward by giving women control over their health care," said Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the Health and Human Services. "This law puts women and their doctors, not insurance companies or the government, in charge of health care decisions (May). .
So far, only one company, Hercules Industries in Colorado, has won a temporary injunction that exempts it from the healthcare reform law. The company is run by the Newlands, a Catholic family, who stated that the new law violates their religious beliefs and cannot be directly responsible for something they do not believe in. The ventilation and air-conditioning business argues that their rights given by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom were violated. There are several other lawsuits pending arguing that the reform violates religious freedom and First Amendment rights (MacDonald).
"It is unacceptable for employers - especially for-profit companies - to use their personal beliefs as an excuse to deny critical health coverage to the people who work for them," said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, a lawyer for the ACLU. Another analyst suggested that the Newlands only hire Catholics with the same beliefs "if they are so concerned about their employees' personal lives" (MacDonald).
