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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA Roman Catholic diocese wants a federal judge to throw out a jury's verdict that it discriminated against a former teacher fired for trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization.
The Journal Gazette reports the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese's recent court filing argues that insufficient evidence was presented during trial showing that the church discriminated against Emily Herx.
A federal judge ruled last month in Herx's favor and awarded her $1.9 million in damages. That award was later reduced to about $544,000.
Diocese officials declined to renew Herx's contract in 2011 because she had undergone the medical procedure that involves mixing eggs and sperm in a laboratory dish and transferring the resulting embryo into the womb.
Diocese attorneys say church teachings call in vitro fertilization gravely evil.
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