Hobby Lobby and Contraceptives- Salon

Tuesday, Apr 1, 2014 11:38 AM EDT

Hobby Lobby retirement plan invests heavily in contraception manufacturers

Hobby Lobby claims it sincerely objects to certain contraception, but has $73 million in assets that show otherwise

Katie Mcdonough Follow

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Topics: emergency contraception, Hobby Lobby, Contraception, Reproductive Rights, reproductive health, reproductive justice, Life News, News, Politics News

 

(Credit: AP/Tony Gutierrez)

 

The owners of Hobby Lobby have such strong objections to providing employees with comprehensive contraceptive coverage that they have taken their case all the way to the United States Supreme Court. But the privately held corporation’s qualms with basic medical care don’t seem to carry over to its retirement portfolio, according to a report from Molly Redden at Mother Jones.

Redden examined documents filed with the Department of Labor three months after the company’s owners filed the lawsuit challenging the contraception provision of the Affordable Care Act and found that the Hobby Lobby 401(k) “held more than $73 million in mutual funds with investments in companies that produce emergency contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices, and drugs commonly used in abortions.”
More from Mother Jones:

Several of the mutual funds in Hobby Lobby’s retirement plan have holdings in companies that manufacture the specific drugs and devices that the Green family, which owns Hobby Lobby, is fighting to keep out of Hobby Lobby’s health care policies: the emergency contraceptive pills Plan B and Ella, and copper and hormonal intrauterine devices.

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These companies include Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, which makes Plan B and ParaGard, a copper IUD, and Actavis, which makes a generic version of Plan B and distributes Ella. Other holdings in the mutual funds selected by Hobby Lobby include Pfizer, the maker of Cytotec and Prostin E2, which are used to induce abortions; Bayer, which manufactures the hormonal IUDs Skyla and Mirena; AstraZeneca, which has an Indian subsidiary that manufactures Prostodin, Cerviprime, and Partocin, three drugs commonly used in abortions; and Forest Laboratories, which makes Cervidil, a drug used to induce abortions.

Several funds in the Hobby Lobby retirement plan also invested in Aetna and Humana, two health insurance companies that cover surgical abortions, abortion drugs, and emergency contraception in many of the health care policies they sell. [...] All nine funds [included in its employer-sponsored retirement plan]—which have assets of $73 million, or three-quarters of the Hobby Lobby retirement plan’s total assets—contained holdings that clashed with the Greens’ stated religious principles.

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

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