Catholic TV network sues US over birth control mandate

[justiceischeap]

Thursday, EWTN — a Catholic television network carried on thousands of cable systems in more than 100 countries — filed suit in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Ala.

"We had no other option," said Michael Warsaw, president of EWTN, which stands for Eternal Word Television Network.

"Under the HHS mandate, EWTN is being forced by the government to make a choice: Either we provide employees coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and violate our conscience or offer our employees and their families no health insurance coverage at all. Neither of those choices is acceptable," Warsaw said.

http://on.msnbc.com/wYBfj7

Wonder which side the courts will come down on...

[corkhead]

1. Well, just for that I plan to keep boycotting EWTN

[baldguy]

2. Because Jesus decreed that they should create a global satellite television network.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

3. They really get pissed off when women might have any control...

...of their own lives, don't they?

[madrchsod]

5. women are unclean.....

[Initech]

6. They had no other option?? Shows you how irrelevant they're becoming!

[underpants]

7. Money -they don't want to "loose" money by giving services

that is the point of all this... as usual

[Hamlette]

8. I thought maybe you meant MSNBC. Tweety is driving me CRAZY on this issue.

Lawrence O'Donnel was better last night than he was the night before but Tweety. Asshole.

[NoGOPZone]

9. One other option would be to stop pandering to every Republican politician

desperate for a few minutes of air time.

[rurallib]

10. you mean - Sister Angelica - won't have access?

she's my dream girl.

[Skittles]

12. AW SO WRONG RURALLIB

I'LL KICK YOUR ASS AS SOON AS I AM FINISHED LAUGHING

[Skittles]

11. here's your third choice you sanctimonious ASSHOLES

your so-called "faithful" can DECLINE TO USE IT

[Sgent]

13. Is this network even affiliated?

or are they a private entity?

I guess what I'm getting at is the fact that IMHO you have level's of organizations....

1) The church itself & other ecclesiastical bodies (the parish, bishop's, etc.), sisterhoods, monastery's, etc. These generally require all employees to be Catholic with possibly very few exceptions (secretary, etc.). The primary purposes of these institutions is religious.

2) Catholic owned / affiliated organizations -- parochial schools; Universities such as Notre Dame, Boston U, Loyola, etc.; Catholic hospitals, etc. -- These organizations are ultimately owned or controlled by #1 above.

There are either no restrictions or relatively few restrictions on the religion of employees. For instance, our local parochial schools do not require you to be catholic to teach at them; however, but you do have a morals clause that you cannot live with a non-married partner, etc. In addition, catholic employees must be in good standing with their parish.

3) Other businesses owned by catholic businessmen, etc. This could be a burger king owned by a catholic.

Obama exempted #1 from the requirement (which the first amendment would have exempted anyway), but applied it to #2 and #3. Its settled law that #3 is cannot wiggle out of it due to "religious persecution" -- see civil rights laws, etc.

#2 could be the sticking point, and I really don't know. For instance, our local Catholic law school has a Jewish Dean, and a LGBT club. There is no way IMHO they should be exempted. On the other hand I could see parochial schools having a stronger case.

[GoCubsGo]

14. Actually, you do have others choices.

For starters, you could use all that money you'd pay to lawyers and for court fees, and use it to pay reparations to the children that have been molested by some of your priests of the the past several decades.