What is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993) and how does it affect this case?
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) prohibits the government from
burdening a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of
general applicability unless the government decides that application of the burden to the
person— (1) is of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive
means of furthering that compelling governmental interest. The RFRA was amended by
the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 to cover any exercise
of religion, whether compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief. The RFRA
affects this case because the owners of Hobby Lobby, the Green family, refused to
provide insurance coverage for contraception for employees because it was against the
family’s religious beliefs and sued to challenge the contraception requirement under the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) by the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS).
What do you think Justice Ginsburg was referring to when she said that “The court, I
