DENVER | A Boulder condom company is offering its product free to women who work at Hobby Lobby — even though Hobby Lobby’s employee health care plan covers condoms.
Sir Richard’s Condom Co. launched a social media campaign last week connecting the giveaway to the Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing closely held private companies to opt out of providing some birth control methods for religious reasons.
“We believe everyone has the right to enjoy mind-blowing, safe sex,” said the post on Sir Richard’s Facebook and Twitter pages. “So, in honor of World Population Day, we are offering a free box of condoms to any Hobby Lobby employees who want them. Just message us on Facebook with your name and address, and we’ll send you a free box of Sir Richard’s.”
Hobby Lobby’s employee health coverage includes 16 of the 20 birth control methods mandated under Obamacare, including both female and male condoms, along with birth control pills, diaphragms and spermicides.
The only four methods not covered by Hobby Lobby’s plan are those that the company’s owners consider to be abortifacients, namely intrauterine devices (IUDs) and “morning-after” pills.
The Green family, which owns Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., offers through its companies “a robust benefit plan that includes coverage for preventive care and almost all of the contraceptives required under the Affordable Care Act,” according to a statement on HobbyLobbyCase.com.
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“That plan includes an on-site clinic with no co-pay at Hobby Lobby headquarters,” says the website.
The Supreme Court’s decision has come under fire from Democrats and progressives, with an increasing number in high places saying falsely that the decision concerned the availability of contraception, rather than whether it must be a health insurance freebie.
The White House issued a message on social media saying, “President Obama believes that women should make personal health care decisions for themselves, rather than their bosses deciding for them.”
Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett went farther on Twitter, writing after Senate Republicans blocked a bill Wednesday to overturn the Hobby Lobby decision that “Senate GOP thinks a woman’s boss should decide if she can have birth control.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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