EWTN Sues the US government over contraceptive mandate

The headline makes you wonder. Why is the US government attacking the Catholic Church? How can we fight back? The answers to these are that (1) It would seem that Obama has an issue with the Catholic Church, (2) Every parish, group, organisation and business should sue the US Government and tie up the courts in these issues.

According to the february 9th 2012 articel on the Catholic News Agaency EWTN says:

“We had no other option but to take this to the courts,” EWTN President and CEO Michael Warsaw said in an announcement about the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. “There is no question that this mandate violates our First Amendment rights.”

“Under the HHS mandate, EWTN is being forced by the government to make a choice,” Warsaw explained. “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.

The government is forcing EWTN, first, to inform its employees about how to get contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs, a concept known as forced speech.”

“To make the matter worse, the government then will force EWTN to use its donors’ funds to pay for these same morally objectionable procedures or to pay for the huge fines it will levy against us if we fail to provide health care insurance.”

If the administration's rule remains in place, the media network could eventually face fines of over $600,000 annually for refusing to underwrite policies contradicting its beliefs.

“This is a moment when EWTN, as a Catholic organization, has to step up and say that enough is enough,” the network's president and CEO declared”

In another article USCCB President and Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan says: “Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience,”

Yet another news article tells of Bidens split from the President. apparently, the White house top people are split on Obamas law to force Catholics and other religious bodies to follow the Abortion mandate. Biden is the first Catholic Vice president the US has ever had. Biden has advised that Obamas decision could cause the Democrats to loose the next Presidential Election - Particularly in swing states where the Catholic vote could count.

But the fight is not only with Catholics. All faith based groups have to follow the Obama mandate. The Catholic League for Religious and social Liberties in a press release dated february 7th says:

We have been inundated with support from Protestants, Jews, Mormons, and others. When the federal government seeks to impose a radical secular agenda on religious entities, denying them the right to exercise their doctrinal prerogatives, it is trampling on the First Amendment rights of the faithful.

The Amish, Christian Scientists and any other religious group that does not accept social security payments or benifits are exempt from the Obama care Health Insuance plan.