From Father Frank Pavone, National Director
Priests for Life
On
Thursday December 19 U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan took a sledge
hammer to the Constitution and ruled that the government has the authority to
force you and every other American to violate your conscience and act in ways
that go directly against your religious beliefs.
In
other words, he said your First Amendment right to freedom of religion is
subject to the government’s approval. He did so when he ruled against Priests
for Life in our lawsuit against the HHS abortion mandate of ObamaCare.
This
is a sad day for all Americans. But the fight has only just begun.
Your
help is critically needed because, even as you read this, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia is considering our emergency appeal for an
injunction that would protect us from the ObamaCare abortion mandate.
Immediately
after Judge Sullivan handed down his ruling, our attorneys began writing our
appeal and worked through the night this past Thursday so that they could file
our appeal with the court on Friday.
They did so around 4:00 Friday afternoon. They did this because Priests for Life’s
health insurance policy is up for renewal on January 1 and we need the court to
uphold and protect our right to freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.
Our
case is only the second one to be decided on the merits of the so-called
"accommodation" that has been offered to groups like ours, which are
religious but are not Churches. And it will be the first of its kind to go to
the Appellate level.
Here
is the notice Robert Muise, Co-Founder of The American Freedom Law Center and
Senior Counsel in the Priests for Life lawsuit, sent me when the court notified
him of Judge Sullivan’s ruling:
Father
Pavone,
Bad
news. The judge just ruled against
us. Attached is the order and the
opinion. We just filed our notice of appeal.
I called and spoke with the emergency motion’s clerk at the Appellate
Court. I will be filing our emergency
motion for an injunction pending appeal (and having it hand delivered) by 4 pm
(at the latest) tomorrow (hopefully sooner—David and I will be working through
the night). They know we need a decision
by December 31. The appeal is docketed .
. . . Fight continues . . . .
In
the short-term, we’re asking the Appeals Court to issue an injunction that will
keep Priests for Life protected from the mandate (as we are right now) until
our appeal to the same court can be heard and decided.
In
the long-term, our attorneys will ask the Appeals Court to overturn Judge
Sullivan’s ruling. I remain confident of
victory because it was just this past November that this same court overruled
another ruling by the same judge on the HHS mandate of ObamaCare. That case was Gilardi v. U.S. Dep’t of Health
and Human Services.
Of
course there’s no guarantee we’ll win at the Appellate level. But as you can see, we have some history on
our side.
Plus,
Judge Sullivan’s decision is a complete contradiction to the one Judge Brian
Cogan issued just a few days ago in New York for organizations situated
similarly to us and using the exact same arguments. Judge Cogan recognized that these religious
groups were being forced to cooperate with evil.
Incredibly,
operating in some mythical world, Judge Sullivan said we’re not being forced to
cooperate with evil. In other words, he's allowing the government to decide
what is and is not an evil act according to our Faith.
His
decision is wrong and we are confident of victory in our appeal.
Meanwhile,
injunction or not, as I’ve told you in prior communications:
We
will absolutely NOT obey, cooperate with, or tolerate in any way ObamaCare’s
unjust abortion mandate.
As
Scripture says, we will obey God rather than men.
As
for our appeal itself, we’re going to need your financial help big time
because, while our funds are extremely limited, the government has the entire
U.S. treasury to pull from.
And
no matter how the Appeals Court rules, one way or another, our lawsuit seems
headed to the Supreme Court. So this is
going to be a long, drawn out court battle.
In
the meantime, we’ve got to raise a lot of money before the end of the year in
order to keep our lawsuit moving through the Appeals process ... and on to the
Supreme Court. So please ...
CLICK HERE and make as large a contribution to our
Priests for Life Legal Fund as you can.
Nothing
less than freedom of religion is at stake.
And
time is quickly running out on us if we are to preserve what our Pope Emeritus,
Benedict XVI, rightly called our “most cherished of American freedoms,” namely,
freedom of religion.
What
the Obama administration is trying to do through the HHS mandate – an attempt
now sanctioned by Judge Sullivan – is give the federal government the power to
determine what is and what isn’t an action that violates our conscience.
That’s
not how our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution.
In
fact, what the President wants to do flies in the face of the freedoms our
Constitution guarantees all Americans.
When
it comes to practicing our religion, Priests for Life dictates to the
government what our beliefs are and how we are required to act. Not the other way around.
Please
help us make that point in court!
Thank
you for doing this. I’ll keep you posted
on developments in our appeal as they occur.
In
the meantime, keep our lawsuit, our attorneys, and the Court of Appeals judges
who will hear our case in your prayers.
God bless.
