Jacob Sullum on Hobby Lobby and the God-Given Right to Break the Law

In 1878 the Supreme Court
unanimously rejected a Mormon’s First Amendment challenge
to the federal ban on bigamy. Since marrying more than one wife is
a crime, the Court reasoned, allowing it for religious reasons
would be akin to allowing human sacrifice by someone who sincerely
believes his deity demands it.

The Court had a point, says Jacob Sullum, but only if you accept
the analogy between polygamy and murder. Likewise, Sullum says,
critics of this week’s Supreme Court decision concerning religious
objections to Obamacare’s birth control mandate have a point, but
only if you accept their argument that declining to pay for
something is the same as “blocking access” to it.

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