Burbank Hobby Lobby opening met with protests, support

BURBANK, Calif. (KABC) -- The grand opening of a Hobby Lobby store in Burbank was met with protests and support Monday.

Protesters are angry over a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows some companies not to pay for some birth control covered by health plans.

It was Hobby Lobby that took the case to the Supreme Court and won, objecting to having to pay for employees' birth control on religious grounds.

They came with signs Monday and made their message clear against the court ruling. Others came to support the store and spend money there.

With the Burbank Police Department keeping a watchful eye, demonstrators spent the afternoon outside the store offering maps and coupons to other crafts stores nearby. But there was also passionate support of the store.

The high court's 5-to-4 ruling says Hobby Lobby, with its "sincere religious beliefs," won't need to provide a "full range" of contraceptives at no cost to their employees, as required by the Affordable Care Act.

On the company's website, its legal counsel has called the ruling a "landmark decision for religious freedom."

While many shoppers agree, the people organizing Monday's demonstration say the Supreme Court is going backward.