Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) lashed out Tuesday at the high court's Hobby Lobby decision to allow some employers with religious objections to opt out of Obamacare's contraception mandate by attacking the "five white men" who voted in favor of the Christian, family-owned business, Politico reported. However, he seems to have missed out on the glaring fact that Justice Clarence Thomas is black.
Speaking on the Senate floor Monday, Reid said that the Senate's legislative agenda for the "coming" weeks will involve addressing last month's Hobby Lobby decision by the Supreme Court. "We're going to do something about the Hobby Lobby legislation," Reid said.
"The one thing we are going to do during this work period, sooner rather than later, is to ensure that women's lives are not determined by virtue of five white men," Reid told reporters on Tuesday. "This Hobby Lobby decision is outrageous and we are going to do something about it. People are going to have to walk down here and vote."
Since the high court's ruling in June, Democrats in Capitol Hill have overwhelmingly criticized the verdict and vowed to protect employer-sponsored insurance coverage of contraception and abortion-inducing drugs mandated by the Department of Health and Human Services. Congressional Republicans, however, have praised the Supreme Court's ruling as a key victory for religious freedom.
Reid's comments echo similar sentiments from top Democrat leaders, with Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., currently leading a legislative push against the court's decision, according to the Daily Signal. "In the coming days I will work with my colleagues and the administration to protect this access, regardless of who signs your paycheck," said Murray in a statement released shortly after the Hobby Lobby ruling.
In the 5-4 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case, Thomas was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito.
