Less than 24 hours before the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) would be forced to start paying crippling fines because of its refusal to comply with the controversial birth control mandate, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted the network temporary relief until its case is decided in court.

CNA/EWTN News is reporting that the decision was handed down just three hours after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a for-profit company that was also refusing to comply with portions of the mandate. The Appeals Court ruling will spare EWTN fines of up to $35,000 per day that would have begun to accrue today.

“We are thankful that the Eleventh Circuit protected our right to religious freedom while we pursue our case in court,” said Michael Warsaw, chairman and CEO of EWTN. “We want to continue to practice the same Catholic faith that we preach to the world every day.”

The federal mandate requires most employers to either provide or facilitate employee insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions. EWTN is one of more than 300 plaintiffs who have filed lawsuits against the government for forcing them to choose between violating their religious beliefs or paying crippling fines.

“Although an ‘accommodation’ has been offered by the federal government to some religious non-profit groups that object to the mandate, many religious employers say that it still requires them to violate their beliefs by facilitating the coverage through an outside insurer,” CNA reports.

Warsaw issued a cautious statement yesterday about what impact the Hobby Lobby decision might have on his own case, saying only that “it remains unclear” whether the decision addresses the objections raised by EWTN and that the network is consulting with its legal team to determine the significance of the decision as it might apply to EWTN’s case.

However, members of their legal team are openly celebrating the Eleventh Circuit decision.

“On the same day as the Hobby Lobby decision, the Eleventh Circuit protected religious ministries challenging the same government mandate,” said Lori Windham, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the non-profit, public-interest law firm that is defending EWTN in court.

“It’s time for the government to stop fighting ministries like EWTN and the Little Sisters of the Poor, and start respecting religious freedom.”

Thus far, 80 percent of the challenges against the oppressive mandate have resulted in favorable court rulings.

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