Church Fires Mother Who Wants Another Child

Emily Herx

A Catholic school teacher and a mother of one, Mrs. Emily Herx, taught literature and language for seven years at St. Francis de Paul in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In June she was fired because she attempted to expand her family by using in vitro fertilization  -- mixing egg and sperm cells in a lab dish and transferring the resulting embryo into the womb.


The Catholic Church maintains that IVF is a sin because, as the Diocese said, these procedures "frequently involve the deliberate destruction and freezing of embryos." (Notice the word use of the word "frequently." which suggests that they have no idea whether that occurred in this case, but it is a sin because that may happen. People "frequently" get killed  riding motorcycles. I haven't checked recently, but I suppose it's possible the Church has declared riding a motorcycle a mortal sin.)


Emily, a thirty-two year old mother, is now suing the Diocese of Fort Wayne - South Bend and the schoool of St. Vincent de Paul for discrimination. 


According to Emily, the bishop told her that IVF "is an intrinsic evil, which means no circumstances can justify it." Her own parish priest told her that she was "a grave,immoral sinner" for using IVF. (It appears these guys don't put much stock in the theory that only God can judge the heart of a sinner.)


Of course, the Diocese is claiming they  have the right to fire Emily because as a religious institution, the school has the right "to make religious based decisions consistent with its religious standards on an impartial basis."


The school's claim of "impartiality" is suspect. Emily claims she was treated differently from other employees. The school's principal, Sandra Guffey, is divorced -- not consistent with the Church's "religious  standards."
Several of the male teachers have had vasectomies. And, since statistics indicate that over 95% of fertile Catholics use contraceptives, it is highly likely that male and female teachers at St. Francis de Paul school are using the pill or condoms.


Once again, just as in the insurance-contraception controversy,  the Church is trying to frame this case as one of  religious freedom. and seeking a "ministerial exemption" from what would be an illegal firing in any other situation. It is a revelation to Emily and her husband, Brian, that she is a "minister" of the church. They must have ordained her when she wasn't paying attention.


Of course, the religious "exemption' that the Catholic Church continues to invoke has the potential to become absurd. Can a religion which claims surgery is a sin fire an employee who has a life-saving  appendectomy?


One has to wonder why these church men insist on choosing to create conflicts like this. The Catholic Church comes across looking like the school-yard bully desperate to find someone to intimidate. Emily and Brian Herx, on the other hand, have to deal with providing for their family with one less source income.