© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Hobby Lobby Ruling A Win For Kansas City Construction Company

brains the head
/
Flickr-CC

A construction company based in Kansas City, Mo., plans to limit the contraceptive coverage it offers employees in the wake of Monday's Hobby Lobby Supreme Court ruling.

JE Dunn Construction Co. filed a "friend of the court" brief in the craft company's defense back in February. The brief argues that providing employees with access to drugs such as Plan B and Ella violate the owners' Roman Catholic beliefs.

"They really shared those same religious beliefs and wanted to advise the court and help define the issues that closely-held businesses such as Hobby Lobby or such as J.E. Dunn have with this issue," says JE Dunn chief legal officer Tom Whittaker.

RELATED: Supreme Court Limits Contraceptive Mandate For Certain Employers

Whittaker says JE Dunn's health plan currently provides coverage of all forms of birth control mandated by the Affordable Care Act. But he says once the company has had a chance to study the Hobby Lobby ruling, it will work with its health care provider to eliminate those prescriptions to which the Dunn family objects.

"We'll continue to provide coverage for preventative prescriptions, but it was just these few that were a part of the mandate that they took exception to," says Whittaker.

According to Whittaker, the Dunns believe drugs taken to prevent contraception after intercourse are abortifacients and end life.

Elle Moxley covered education for KCUR.
KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and award-winning podcasts.
Your donation helps keep nonprofit journalism free and available for everyone.