More One-Sided Reporting from CNN on Issues Involving the Catholic Church
When it comes to social issues, you can expect to get mostly one side
of the story from CNN's reporting – the liberal side. On Thursday
morning, that trend continued as anchor Kyra Phillips sympathized with a
Catholic school teacher fired because she was using sick days to
receive in vitro fertilization, a practice condemned by the Catholic
Church.
Phillips started off with this jab at the Church: "Well, in vitro
fertilization is a godsend for millions of infertile couples who long to
have children, but the Catholic Church says it's a sin." So tell us
where you really stand on this, Kyra.
And CNN continued to report a slanted story. Nowhere did they mention that according to the lawsuit, the teacher had used sick days to receive IVF, so she wasn't just doing it secretly on the side. Phillips later wondered if the teacher was fired simply because there was a "grudge" against her.
According to the Fort Wayne newspaper,
the teacher, Emily Herx, had let school officials know about her IVF
treatment but only once the matter was brought to a priest did the
diocese take action.
For the record, a statement from the Diocese of Fort Wayne can be found here. In part, it reads:
"The Diocese has clear policies requiring that teachers in its schools must, as a condition of employment, have a knowledge of and respect for the Catholic faith, and abide by the tenets of the Catholic Church as those tenets apply to that person. The Diocese requires that its teachers serve as moral exemplars. Those requirements, and others, are expressly incorporated into Diocesan teacher contracts."
And Phillips topped off the interview with a totally soapy set of questions about the teacher's personal success with IVF. If she hadn't already made known her sympathy with Emily Herx's plight, Kyra seemed to be auditioning for Oprah now. "[D]id the IVF work for you?" she asked Herx. "Do you want to do it again? Do you want to keep trying?"
[Video below. Audio here.]
CNN has made it clear it sides with liberal Catholics and the pro-GLAAD crowd on social issues. Just on Wednesday, Phillips fawned over a disgruntled lesbian mom removed by the Boy Scouts as local cub den leader because of her orientation. No one representing the Boy Scouts was brought on for the other side of the story.
Then on Thursday, CNN hyped
Georgetown University protests of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and his
budget. The network hosted two liberal Catholic guests opposing Ryan's
budget, and one of the guests enjoyed three interviews throughout the
day. Aside from statements by Ryan himself, no Catholic bishop or
supporter of Ryan appeared on CNN to talk Catholic social teaching.
A transcript of the interview, which aired on Newsroom on April 26 at 11:16 a.m. EDT, is as follows:
KYRA PHILLIPS: Well, in vitro fertilization is a godsend for millions
of infertile couples who long to have children, but the Catholic Church
says it's a sin. So when higher-ups in the diocese in Ft. Wayne,
Indiana, learned that a teacher at St. Paul – Vincent de Paul Catholic
school was undergoing IVF treatments, they fired her, and made no
apologies about it.
Quote, "The diocese has clear policies requiring that teachers in its
schools must have a knowledge of and respect for the Catholic faith, and
abide by the tenets of the Catholic Church." Now, the teacher then
accused the school and diocese of violating both the Civil Rights Act
and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission agreed.
Still, the church is unmoved, calling the, quote, "core issue ," quote,
"a challenge to the diocese's right as a religious employer to make
religious-based decisions consistent with its religious standards on an
impartial basis." Meet the teacher, Emily Herx. She joins me now from
New York with her attorney, Kathleen Delaney. And we did invite
officials from the Ft. Wayne diocese to join us, but they declined.
So, Emily, let's go ahead and start with you. You taught at St. Vincent
de Paul for eight years. Were you ever reprimanded for any performance
issues?
EMILY HERX, teacher fired for IVF treatments: Never, not once. I was
always given high remarks by parents and by my principal and other
teachers. I was told that my children performed very well, so everything
seemed to be going great for as long as I was there.
PHILLIPS: So did anyone ever tell you that IVF could get you fired?
HERX: No, absolutely not. About two years ago when we started, there
was no warning. There was nothing about fertility treatments being an
issue.
PHILLIPS: And did you ever try to hide it from anybody, not talk about it?
HERX: No. I was very honest with my principal from the get-go, so I was never trying to lie about it or anything like that.
PHILLIPS: Was your principal supportive?
HERX: Yes, she was. For the first two years, she never warned me about
it. She never said there was a possibility that you could lose your job,
so that's why this was all so shocking that this happened so quickly.
PHILLIPS: Now we're talking about a Catholic school. Did she ever say,
hey, let's pray about it or I'll keep you my prayers or let's stay
focused on this.
HERX: Absolutely. The first time that she was made aware that my
husband and I had to go through fertility treatment she said, "You are
in my prayers," so that to me was support.
PHILLIPS: So I see that you started fertility in 2008, and you weren't
fired until 2011, so tell me what happened. How did this blow up?
HERX: Honestly I'm not sure. It was shocking because one day I got an
e-mail saying that I needed to meet with the monsignor at St. Vincent
and he told me that, basically, my job was at risk, out of the blue. And
I said, "Well, you know, my principal has been knowing about this for
two years." I didn't think I was doing anything wrong, and I had never
had any complaints about, you know, me as a teacher, so I was shocked
and then it just kind of snowballed from there. So it's been very
traumatic.
(...)
PHILLIPS: So – and I'll talk more with you, Kathleen, of course, about
some of the details, but just trying to get a feel from Emily on how
this all sort of unfolded. Because Emily, it seems like you had a lot of
support, that people were aware of what you were going through. The
principal, as you say, was praying for you. How has this impacted your
family?
HERX: Oh, my family is devastated. We are all emotionally -- it's been a
very rough year. My entire family, my parents, it's just been a very
hard thing to come to grips to because I did love my job so much and I
did love teaching so much. You know, right after college, I was so
excited to get a job there and, you know, to have that stripped away
from me, but the outpour of support has been wonderful.
PHILLIPS: So, Kathleen, does the diocese insurance policy cover these treatments, cover fertility treatments?
DELANEY: Our understanding, based upon the information that we now
have, is that the diocese health plan covered some of the treatments,
including office visits and anesthesia services.
PHILLIPS: Okay. So Emily, as far as you knew, you were going through
this and the insurance that you have through the diocese was helping you
pay for these treatments.
HERX: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: The bills were getting paid?
HERX: Some of the bills were getting paid, absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Okay. So then, Kathleen, if I – in the diocese – or to use
the diocese's own words, the quote here is that your client was fired
for improprieties related to church teachings or law. So let me ask you
this. What about the teachers who use contraception, teachers that are
divorced, teachers that live with partners that are unmarried?
(...)
PHILLIPS: So, Kathleen, what do you think is happening here? Do you
think someone just had a grudge against your client and sort of made
this a big deal when everything apparently was okay from 2008 to 2011,
if indeed the principal knew she was going through this treatment, the
bills were getting paid for things that were covered by the insurance
policy?
DELANEY: Well, we're not going to speculate on the motives of the
diocese of Ft. Wayne. I think it's for them to address those questions
when the time comes, rather than us.
PHILLIPS: Understood. So, Emily, I know this may be a bit of a personal question, but did the IVF work for you?
HERX: Honestly, no, it has not.
PHILLIPS: And I know that must be tremendously hard to deal with as
well. Do you want to do it again? Do you want to keep trying?
HERX: Right now, I don't feel comfortable talking about that, but –
DELANEY: It's a really tough topic, Kyra, and that's really between Emily and her husband and her doctor.
PHILLIPS: Understandable. How about returning to the classroom, Emily?
