Federal judge rules against EWTN in lawsuit against Obamacare contraception mandate [View all]

[theHandpuppet]

Federal judge rules against EWTN in lawsuit against Obamacare contraception mandate
by Greg Garrison
on June 18, 2014

IRONDALE, Alabama – U.S. District Court Judge Callie V.S. Granade of Mobile has ruled against EWTN Global Catholic Network in its request for 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.

The ruling was made on Tuesday, June 17, and EWTN issued a statement this morning.
"We are extremely disappointed with the decision reached by the court in this case," said EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael P. Warsaw. "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," Warsaw said. "We have no other option but to continue our legal challenge of the mandate. We are making an immediate appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta."

EWTN filed its original lawsuit on Feb. 9, 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 on March 25, 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. The State of Alabama and Attorney General Luther Strange joined EWTN as a co-plaintiff in the new lawsuit....

MORE at http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2014/06/federal_judge_rules_against_ew.html