I wish to commend Cardinal Dolan, Cardinal Wuerl and the leaders of the 43 Catholic institutions who on May 21 filed lawsuits challenging the unacceptable HHS mandate.

These newly filed lawsuits help to send a very clear and strong message that Catholics will not stay on the sidelines while our constitutional right to freedom of religious expression is chipped away by unjust government regulations that force us to act contrary to our beliefs.

EWTN filed a lawsuit on Feb. 9, 2012, in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Ala., challenging the HHS mandate on constitutional grounds.

The network was the first organization to file suit after the Obama administration published its final rules forcing health-insurance plans to provide coverage for contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.

In March, the attorney general of the State of Alabama filed a motion to join EWTN as a plaintiff in the suit. The U.S. Department of Justice recently filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the EWTN suit. The network will file its response to the government in early June.

I hope and pray that these new lawsuits, like the EWTN suit, will help bring about an end to this unacceptable HHS mandate.

Keep us in your prayers going forward. God bless you!