Top reps square off on Hobby Lobby

A top House Democrat on Sunday suggested that religious business owners who do not provide birth control to their employees because it violates their faith are “discriminating against women.”

{mosads}“The government will not violate anyone’s religious beliefs, but no one has the right to discriminate against a woman because of her own beliefs,” House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said in a heated interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

On Monday, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on Hobby Lobby vs. Sebelius in one of the most anticipated cases of the term, which pits religious freedom against women’s rights.

A key requirement of ObamaCare is that employers provide insurance coverage for their employees to receive birth control. Hobby Lobby challenged the birth control mandate in court, because the company’s owner argued it would force him to violate his faith.

In the same “Fox News Sunday” interview, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said the rule tramples on religious freedom.

“I think the statute itself, as interpreted by the president, violates the First Amendment of the Constitution, and I’m hoping the court will uphold the right of individuals for their expression of their religious freedoms,” Goodlatte said.

But Becerra argued the greater injustice would be to allow businesses to discriminate against women.

“The owner has the right to his or her religious beliefs, but that doesn’t mean you get to discriminate against women, if women have different beliefs than what the owner has and the woman wants to exercise her rights under the Constitution,” Becerra said.