FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: April 2, 2014
Contact: Leslie Palma
347-286-7277
WHAT: Rally for Religious Freedom
WHERE: U.S. Court of Appeals, 333 Constitution Ave., Washington DC
WHEN: 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday, MAY 8, 2014
NEW YORK, NY — Priests for Life has organized a rally for religious freedom from 9 to 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 8 at the Federal Courthouse at 333 Constitution Ave, Washington, D.C.
On that day, oral arguments will be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Priests for Life vs. Department of Health and Human Services, the case of Priests for Life against the HHS mandate. Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, and Dr. Alveda King, Director of African-American Outreach, and niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., are two of the named plaintiffs in the suit. They will speak at the rally and attend the oral arguments. Janet Morana, Executive Director of Priests for Life and co-founder of the international Silent No More Awareness Campaign is also a plaintiff.
Joined with the Priests for Life case is also the suit brought against the HHS mandate by the Archdiocese of Washington. The Catholic University of America and Thomas Aquinas College are among the plaintiffs in that case as well.
The rally and a related social media campaign, #IStandWithPFL, is meant to call attention to the fact that the concerns of the religious not-for-profits have not been addressed by the Obama administration’s so-called “accommodation” to faith-based employers.
The oral arguments on May 8 are the first such arguments on the appellate level, on the merits of the case, for the religious non-profit groups challenging the mandate. The recent oral arguments at the Supreme Court for Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood address the rights of businesses in regard to the mandate. A victory in that case would not necessarily resolve the issues being argued on May 8 on behalf of the religious non-profit groups.
Along with Fr. Pavone and Dr. King, other national pro-life and religious liberty leaders also will speak at the rally, as will Robert Muise, Senior Counsel of the American Freedom Law Center, which represents Priests for Life in the lawsuit.
For information or to set up interviews, contact Leslie Palma at media@priestsforlife.org or 347-286-7277. The web page www.IStandWithPFL.com has the most current information about the lawsuit.
Priests for Life is the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.