Hobby Lobby challenges federal mandate to provide 'morning-after' pills to employees

Duncan said 27 lawsuits have been filed against the federal mandate, but Hobby Lobby is the largest, and first non-Catholic owned business to challenge the mandate. One Colorado company has obtained an injunction preventing it from being penalized while its case is heard, he said.

The lawsuit states that the family's “commitment to Jesus Christ and to Biblical principles is what gives their business endeavors meaning and purpose.”

“The Green family's religious beliefs forbid them from participating in, providing access to, paying for, training others to engage in, or otherwise supporting abortion-causing drugs and devices,” the lawsuit said. “The administrative rule at issue in this case runs roughshod over the Green family's religious beliefs, and the beliefs of millions of other Americans, by forcing them to provide health insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs and devices, as well as related education and counseling.”

Hobby Lobby employs more than 15,000 people in more than 500 stores in 41 states. Mardel operates 35 stores in seven states and has 372 full-time employees.

The suit names three federal agencies and their cabinet-level leaders as defendants: the Department of Health and Human Services and Kathleen Sebelius; the Labor Department and Hilda Solis; and the Treasury Department and Timothy Geithner. The petition was filed in federal court in Oklahoma City.