The state of Alabama joined EWTN as a co-plaintiff in the network’s lawsuit against the Obama administration’s contraception-abortion mandate.

In papers filed March 22 in the U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Attorney General Luther Strange asserted that the controversial federal rule, which requires the inclusion of contraception services in virtually all private employee health-care plans, would pre-empt rights affirmed by the state’s Constitution, which guarantees its citizens’ right of conscience.