FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP): A federal judge rejects the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend's request that he set aside a jury's finding that it discriminated against a former teacher fired for trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization.

The Journal Gazette reports U.S. District Judge Robert Miller said in Monday's ruling that “the evidence supports” December's verdict favoring former diocese teacher Emily Herx.

Jurors found the Diocese violated Herx's civil rights when it declined to renew her contract after she underwent in vitro fertilization in hopes of having a second child.

The diocese says the Catholic Church teaches the medical procedure which involves mixing eggs and sperm and transferring the resulting embryo into the womb, is an intrinsic evil that no circumstances can justify.