Four years ago, in the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court affirmed that corporations are "people," at least when it comes to their First Amendment rights of free speech. This March, the nine justices will take up Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, pairing it with a second, similar case, Conestoga Wood Specialties, to begin hearing oral arguments regarding the next question in corporate evolution: can for-profit companies be religious people? 

At issue in the highly publicized Hobby Lobby case is whether it and other for-profit companies whose owners have strong moral objections to birth control can use the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 to opt out of contraceptive requirements under the Department of Health and Human Service's reading of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Under that stance, companies of more than 50 employees must provide full-time workers with medical benefits, including birth-control information and a formulary of 20 contraceptive drugs and devices, several of which may function as abortifacients.