In one of their most Constitutionally-ignorant moments, Planned Parenthood took to Twitter and vehemently defended their progressive allies, joining the war waged by leftists on Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado. Phillips recently won a narrow Supreme Court ruling on the basis of his First Amendment Rights, specifically Freedom of Religion. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC) challenged Phillips after he declined to bake the cake for a same-sex wedding because of his devout, Christian faith. Now, Phillips is being dragged through the mud again, after refusing to bake a cake for a ‘gender-transition’ party.
No person, corporation, or institution has the right to impose their religious beliefs on others. Period. https://t.co/rAjbuREPH0
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) August 16, 2018
As expected, Planned Parenthood’s take on the court case is completely misguided. By declining to bake a same-sex wedding cake, Phillips is merely enjoying one of the freedoms that Americans are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights: the Freedom of Religion.
Anyone who is familiar with the Constitution, or who took a high school civics course, knows that Phillips’ polite refusal to serve a same-sex couple is completely protected by the First Amendment. The federal government does not have any right to tell a private business what it can or cannot do; Phillips has every right to turn away customers on any basis he chooses, just as those customers have every right to take their business elsewhere. Basic Constitutional rationale seems to be too complex for the progressive champions.
Although, arguably, Phillips’ refusal can be coined as discrimination, the Colorado baker is fully within his rights to do so. Ironically, this outrage at Phillips comes from the same left who cheered on the owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Virginia whose owner famously asked Sarah Sanders to leave the establishment. What these two situations have in common is that both owners were Constitutionally allowed to refuse service to prospective customers, whether it be a same-sex wedding or President Trump’s press secretary. The government cannot force a mandate on business owners that they must serve anyone that walks through their doors; business owners can refuse service to anyone they please, whether it be on the basis of religious objections, or just a sheer hatred for the Trump Administration.
The partisan difference in these cases is that most conservatives consistently defend the rights of business owners, and advocate against government overreach. Even in the case of Sarah Sanders, although the owner gave her the boot on account of her ties to President Trump, conservatives defended the rights of the restaurant owner. Business owners can run their establishment as they choose, and customers have the right to take their business elsewhere. Capitalism and our individual liberties jointly allow both parties to have freedom of choice.
