My must read of the day is "What's the difference between CVS and Hobby Lobby?" in the Hill:
Larry Merlo, the president and chief executive officer of CVS, decided that his company would stop selling tobacco products. The decision was both a moral and a personal one. The company’s press release stated that, "The sale of tobacco products is inconsistent with our purpose." Merlo’s personal announcement said that it was the "right thing to do." Merlo’s own father died of lung cancer when Merlo was just a boy.
Merlo’s move was met with wide praise. Eighty-nine percent of respondents in a Facebook poll agreed that CVS had done the right thing. Even President Obama issued a press release, congratulating the corporation on setting a "powerful example." Though his company faced a potential loss of billions of dollars, Larry Merlo didn’t want to sell a product anymore that everyone knows kills people. [...]
CVS’s announcement, and the president’s subsequent congratulations, were plain evidence that corporations do have a moral purpose, and that their CEOs play an important role in steering that purpose. [CVS embodies the notion that a CEO can make a moral decision on behalf of the corporation under the protection of the constitution.]
Is this case different from Hobby Lobby’s in a court of law? Perhaps. One is making a decision that affects employees, the other primarily consumers. But they should be looked at in a similar scope.
If you remove the product, they're not very different. At a base level these situations show a for-profit company choosing to limit and not provide a product that they see as inconsistent with their company's mission.
One is widely praised and the other is told it's unacceptable. It’s the height of hypocrisy.
Neither CVS nor Hobby Lobby is trying to prohibit people from buying these products. They're just saying, we won't be the ones giving it to you.
The Hobby Lobby case is not about healthcare or access to it. It's not even about contraception or abortion. It's about making sure everyone complies with this administration's idea of fairness and morality.