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MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge in Alabama has dismissed a Catholic broadcaster's legal claim that requiring employers to include contraception in their health care coverage is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Callie Granade acted Wednesday on the lawsuit filed by the Eternal Word Television Network, which has studios in a Birmingham suburb.
The broadcasting group said it will appeal.
Dozens of church-related organizations have filed suit over the law across the country. Like those groups, EWTN contends the government is violating its rights by requiring employers to provide health care coverage that includes contraception. The broadcaster argues that medications resulting in abortion and procedures such as sterilization violate tenets of the Roman Catholic Church.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this year in a case involving the law's contraception provisions, but has not yet ruled.
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