Cardinal Timothy Dolan says that Christian businesses like Hobby Lobby should not be forced to obey government rules that require all health care insurance plans provide access to contraceptives because women can already buy birth control at 7-11.
In a interview that aired Sunday on CBS, host Norah O'Donnell asked Dolan where he stood on the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case.
"I would be inspired by the Hobby Lobby [owners]," Dolan said. "I think they're just true Americans. They're saying, look, the genius of America is that religious convictions affect the way we act... They sure have my admiration."
"But doesn't that set a dangerous precedent?" O'Donnell wondered. "If a private company can use religion to deny benefits to its employees?"
Dolan acknowledged that it could be dangerous in extreme circumstances, but he doubted that the Hobby Lobby argument was a detriment to the common good.
"Is the ability to buy contraceptives, that are now widely available -- my Lord, all you have to do is walk into a 7-11 or any shop on any street in America and have access to them -- is that right to access those and have them paid for, is that such a towering good that it would suffocate the rights of conscience?"
