Posted on 06/18/2014 4:20:10 PM PDT by Morgana
Just days before the Supreme Court is scheduled to consider the biggest case against the HHS abortion mandate that is a part of Obamacare, a lower court is forcing the Catholic television station EWTN to obey it.
pichealth36bU.S. District Court Judge Callie V.S. Granade of Mobile, Alabama issued an opinion yesterday denying EWTN Global Catholic Network protection from the government mandate that it must provide coverage of contraception, abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization as part of its employee health care coverage.
“We are extremely disappointed with the decision reached by the court in this case,” said EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael P. Warsaw in an email to LifeNews.
He added: “The opinion issued is clearly inconsistent with the decisions reached in nearly all of the cases decided to date. The fact that the court has dismissed the serious issues of conscience and religious freedom that EWTN has raised is very troubling.”
“As an organization that was founded to uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church, we do not believe that contraception, abortion-inducing drugs and voluntary sterilization should be defined as health care. We simply cannot facilitate these immoral practices,” said Warsaw. “We have no other option but to continue our legal challenge of the mandate,” Warsaw continued. “We are making an immediate appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.”
EWTN filed its original lawsuit in February 2012 after the government issued the first set of rules for the mandate. That first suit was dismissed on technical grounds by Federal Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn of Birmingham in March 2013. EWTN filed its current lawsuit October 28, 2013 against the Department of Health & Human Services and other federal agencies seeking to stop the government from imposing the HHS contraception mandate and protect EWTN’s constitutional rights. The State of Alabama, through its Attorney General Luther Strange joined EWTN as a co-plaintiff in the new lawsuit. “Alabama has a proud history of protecting our First Freedom,” said Attorney General Strange. “We have been honored to continue that tradition by standing with EWTN and protecting rights of conscience for all Alabama citizens, and we will continue to support EWTN as it appeals the district court’s disappointing decision.”
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“This decision is out of step with the overwhelming majority of decisions in similar cases nationwide,” said Lori Windham, Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed both lawsuits on EWTN’s behalf. “Over 80% of cases have protected religious objectors from this mandate.”
The Supreme Court decision in the monumental Hobby Lobby case against the abortion mandate in Obamacare is expected either this week or next.
The Obama administration says it is confident it will prevail, saying, “We believe this requirement is lawful…and are confident the Supreme Court will agree.
The Supreme Court is also taking the case of the Mennonite cabinet makers forced to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs.
A December 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll shows Americans disagree with forcing companies like Hobby Lobby to obey the mandate.
Disobey,,
Time for the Church to start playing hardball.They could start with excommunication of some rotten politicians I can think of.
Time to bring this to a head - EWTN must refuse to comply.
The Church needs to wage war on on godless politicians.The godless politicians have been waging war on the Church for years.
1. begin excommunicating liberal democrats/pro-aborts. in large numbers. across the country.
2. refuse the court order.
Elections have consequences.
This would’ve happened under Romney also...right?
we live under the most anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-Jewish, anti-liberty, and dishonest regime in USA history, by far.
there is no justifiable purpose for this tyrannical dictat other than to further attack Christians in this country
time for the Church to “just say no”
Catholic ping!
That shouldn't make any difference in a free nation, but I mention it to point out that any arguments in support of EWTN on religious grounds have no basis in law.
FTC
I find it ludicrous that you only get to be free if you have some religious objection to some violation of our rights.
And the government decides who is and who is not religious? See any problems with this reasoning?
Is an operation like this network forced to provide health care benefits?
Anarchy
In other words, we have bribed, blackmailed, audited and illegally recorded the necessary jurists.
Catholic Charities has lost a few high-profile cases like this over the years, and it's hard to argue with the legal reasoning of the courts in those cases. Three big factors for many of these organizations are: (1) Do they exist for the purpose of promoting and spreading a religious message? (2) Do they restrict membership/employment based on religious denomination? (3) Do they survive only through the support of voluntary contributions?
Catholic Charities failed miserably on all three counts in some kind of legal battle related to a contraceptive mandate in California a few years ago. The court pointed out that half of the organization's board of directors and leadership positions were held by people who were Protestant, Jewish, etc. LOL.
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