Indiana Woman Says Catholic School Fired Her For Using In Vitro Fertilization

By Samantha Abernethy in News on May 1, 2012 10:20PM

An Indiana woman says a Roman Catholic school fired her because she was using in vitro fertilization, and she's suing for discrimination. Emily Herx's suit against the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South bend and St. Vincent de Paul school says the church pastor said she was a "grave, immoral sinner" and that it could cause a scandal. Herx's case could turn into a "legal showdown over reproductive and religious rights."

The AP writes:

Legal experts say Herx’s case illustrates a murky area in the debate over separation of church and state that even the U.S. Supreme Court has failed to clearly address.

Diocese officials said in a statement issued to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the lawsuit challenges its rights as a religious institution “to make religious based decisions consistent with its religious standards on an impartial basis.”

Herx's lawyer told the AP Herx was not a religion teacher, not ordained and wasn't instructed about the doctrine and isn't Catholic. Although the Supreme Court ruled in January that religious workers can't sue employers because of a "ministerial exception," the court did not determine who exactly is considered a "religious employee."