I rise today to speak about the repercussions of the Supreme Court's misguided Hobby Lobby decision which allows employers to refuse to cover contraception as a part of their employees' health plans under the false pretense that corporations can not only have religious beliefs but they can impose those beliefs on their employees. Several days ago I was home in the great State of Colorado. I stood shoulder to shoulder with experts in women's health care who joined me to highlight how the Hobby Lobby decision is already negatively affecting women in our State. One Denver-based OB-GYN explained how physicians might now have to consider an employer's religious beliefs when making medical recommendations. She said the Court's decision fundamentally interferes with health care decisions that should be based solely on a patient's well-being. Because of the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 decision, women across America are now facing the uncertainty that their bosses may restrict the health care benefits Federal law currently secures for them. Birth control has been deemed an essential preventive health service by a nonpartisan independent group of doctors and other medical experts. Ninety-nine percent of American women have used birth control at some point in their lives. They use it for a variety of health reasons.…
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