The Global Catholic Television
Network (EWTN), a Catholic-themed
television network founded in 1980 in a garage studio by a nun, has been denied
protection from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
contraception mandate following a decision last week by District Judge Callie V.
Granade of Mobile, AL.
A statement posted on EWTN’s website and Facebook page by CEO
Michael P. Warsaw expressed his disappointment with the decision and said that EWTN will seek an appeal to the 11th
Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, GA.
“We are extremely disappointed with the decision reached by the court in
this case. 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 by Mother
Angelica 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. We
have no other option but to continue our legal challenge of the mandate. We are making an immediate appeal to the 11th
Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.”
EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world, and
its television schedule includes recordings of Catholic Mass, along with other
religion and theological-based shows. In
addition to its television station, EWTN
also has publishing, electronic and print media, and radio divisions to further
spread the Catholic faith.
It’s hard to deny the religious
conviction and mission that is behind the work of EWTN. Contraception,
abortion, and sterilization are viewed by faithful Catholics as deeply
disordered, and it is absurd that a Catholic media network be forced to provide
these items for their employees.
Bottom line: HHS … or any U.S. government
agency does not have the right to force a company to go against its deeply-held
beliefs.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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