Senator Lankford Statement on the Court’s decision to send Obamacare Case Back to Lower Courts

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement today on the US Supreme Court’s decision to send the Zubik v. Burwell case back to the lower courts to consider an acceptable compromise:

“The Supreme Court’s decision is an important step to ensure that federal law considers the free exercise of religion. Four Oklahoma universities led the nation to consider the overreach of Obamacare into private religious practice; today the court vacated the lower court and the Administration’s ‘accommodations’. Freedom of religion is foundational to our culture and no administration can run over people of faith or demand they change their religious practice to serve the preferences of the White House. 

“Although there is still much work to be done with these cases, I am encouraged by the Supreme Court’s action and remain hopeful that the lower courts will uphold the First Amendment right of religious people and organizations to live out their convictions in their everyday lives.”

On January 11, Lankford submitted a bipartisan amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in support of the religious nonprofits and charities challenging Obamacare’s Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate, including the Little Sisters of the Poor, Oklahoma Wesleyan, Oklahoma Baptist, Southern Nazarene and Mid-America Christian. 

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