Christian-owned-and-operated Hobby Lobby Stores and Mardel Christian and Education were denied a request Dec. 20 to temporarily stop enforcement of the abortion pill mandate. The federal court decision means that the retail chains must provide the “morning after” and “week after” pills in their health insurance plans or face fines of up to $1.3 million per day.

Both companies are owned by the Green family of Oklahoma City, Okla., David Green, founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, which has 500-plus locations.

“The Green family is disappointed with this ruling,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “They simply asked for a temporary halt to the mandate while their appeal goes forward, and now they must seek relief from the United States Supreme Court. The Greens will continue to make their case on appeal that this unconstitutional mandate infringes their right to earn a living while remaining true to their faith.”

The 10th Circuit judges denied the motion calling the religious burden to the Green family “indirect and attenuated.”

“It is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured,” said David Green, founder and CEO. “Therefore we seek to honor God by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.”

The Green family has no moral objection to the use of preventive contraceptives and will continue covering preventive contraceptives for its employees. However, the family’s convictions prohibit them from providing or paying for abortion-inducing drugs, which would violate belief that life begins at conception.

The abortion pill mandate is a regulation under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). The Becket Fund also represents Wheaton College, Colorado Christian University, the Eternal Word Television Network and others in their fight against the mandate.

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