We welcomed the news earlier this month that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up seven HHS contraceptive mandate cases, including that of the Little Sisters of the Poor.

It is good news because the hypocrisy of the federal government, in its bizarre insistence that religious congregations like the Little Sisters of the Poor must provide contraceptive services for their members, will finally be definitively judged by the Supreme Court. I say bizarre because any right-minded individual, religious or not, can see that the Little Sisters’ case highlights a major reason for the founding of the United States: freedom to practice your own religion, unencumbered by government intrusion.

But, as we’ve seen from the court’s incredible decision to redefine marriage, anything can happen. And that’s why we must pray.

In EWTN’s own challenge to the HHS mandate, we have been waiting for the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to issue a decision following oral arguments before that court in February 2015. This new action by the Supreme Court may mean the EWTN case will be put on hold pending the outcome of this decision. 

Let me reiterate: Contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs are not health care, and participating in providing them to our employees violates our Catholic beliefs. When EWTN launched its first lawsuit against the mandate in 2012, we made it clear that we cannot and will not compromise our strongly held beliefs on these moral issues. We are extremely encouraged by the fact that the Supreme Court has chosen to weigh in on this unprecedented government violation of religious liberty. We ask our EWTN family to continue to keep this matter in your prayers.

God bless you!