Statement of Michael P. Warsaw, President & Chief Executive Officer of EWTN Global Catholic Network responding to multiple lawsuits filed on Monday, May 23, 2012 challenging the HHS contraceptive and abortion-inducing drug mandate

"I wish to commend Cardinal Dolan, Cardinal Wuerl and the leaders of the forty-three Catholic institutions who today filed lawsuits challenging the the unacceptable HHS mandate. In February, EWTN 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.

These newly filed lawsuits help to send a very clear and strong message that the 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. I hope and pray that these suits, like the EWTN lawsuit, will help bring about an end to this unacceptable HHS mandate."

EWTN filed a lawsuit on February 9, 2012 in US District Court in Birmingham, Alabama challenging the HHS mandate on constitutional grounds. In March, the Attorney General of the State of Alabama filed a motion to intervene and to join EWTN as a plaintiff in the suit. The US 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.