Supreme Court Accepts Case That Could Have Major Consequences For Religious Freedom And LGBTQ Rights

The high court has agreed to hear Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission during its next term, which begins in October. The case deals with a bakery in Lakewood, Colorado, that refuses to make cakes for the weddings of LGBTQ couples, citing the owner’s religious beliefs as justification for the refusal.

Taxpayer-Funded Child Welfare Agencies Can Now Use Religion To Discriminate In Texas

Yesterday Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 3859, and now child welfare agencies receiving state funds can refuse to serve vulnerable children based on the agencies’ religious beliefs. The law is so broad that an agency can even refuse to place children in adoptive and foster homes. 

During Pride Month And Every Month, AU Stands With The LGBTQ Community

June marks Pride Month, a month dedicated to celebrating the strides made toward LGBTQ equality and the many LGBTQ activists that fought to achieve them. This Pride Month and every month, Americans United is proud to stand with our LGBTQ neighbors and oppose discrimination in the name of religion.

AU Tells Federal Court: Trump’s Leaked Contraception Rule Would Harm Women

From AU's Wall of Separation blog: 

Late Thursday, Americans United told a federal appeals court that women would be severely harmed by the Trump administration’s proposed change to the current requirement that health insurance cover contraceptives, a change that would allow employers and universities to use religion as an excuse to deny contraceptive coverage completely.

Just as religious freedom is a fundamental American value, so is being able to make your own choices about healthcare. Decisions about women’s health should be left to women—not to politicians or employers.

But President Donald J. Trump, his Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and others in his administration want to give bosses the right to insert themselves into the private healthcare decisions of their employees, and misuse the concept of religious freedom to justify this invasion.

The proposed regulation, initiated by Trump’s May 4 executive order, would allow any employers to cite religious – or even “moral” – objections to opt out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision that requires health-insurance plans to cover birth control with no co-pay. There’s no back-up plan. Under the Trump proposal, if the boss declines to cover contraceptives, the cost shifts to employees and students. (For more details on the Trump plan, read our analysis at our Protect Thy Neighbor project.)

“Using religion as an excuse to jeopardize women's access to basic healthcare is discrimination, plain and simple,” Richard B. Katskee, AU’s legal director, said in response to the Trump proposal. “If the rule is made final, we will fight it at every turn.”

In fact, AU has already begun fighting it: We filed our objections to the proposed rule with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, describing how the proposal – or any rule change that doesn’t provide affordable, seamless access to necessary healthcare—will harm women.

AU represents students in the case University of Notre Dame v. Price. These are the only women at risk of losing birth control coverage who are parties to the ongoing lawsuits filed in response to the ACA’s contraceptive-coverage provision.

The Obama administration had created an accommodation for non-profits with religious objections (and since expanded it to for-profit companies following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision). Under this accommodation, organizations need only complete a short form to opt out of providing contraception coverage, and the government will work with third-party insurers to provide the coverage at no cost to the affected women.

But attacks on contraception coverage persisted in ongoing litigation as some organizations argued that merely requesting the opt-out violates their religious freedom.

These cases, including Notre Dame v. Price, have remained in limbo since the U.S. Supreme Court returned them to the lower courts in May 2016. AU and the other parties in our case were required to file status updates yesterday with the 7th Circuit.

AU’s report told the court that the Trump administration’s proposed change “would modify the religious accommodation at issue here in just the way that the government previously reported could not be done without depriving women like (our clients) of access to essential health services.”

That result would violate the First Amendment’s church-state provisions, which forbid “religious exemptions or accommodations from generally applicable laws that would have a ‘detrimental effect on any third party.’”

AU will continue to make it clear that religion cannot be used as an excuse to discriminate against women in their healthcare coverage.

Stay tuned—we’ll keep you posted on what happens with Trump’s proposal, this lawsuit and all of our Protect Thy Neighbor work to stop those who would misuse religious freedom as an excuse to harm others.

Contraception Deception: Falsehoods The Trump Administration Relies On To Justify A Rule That Would Deny Millions Of Women Access To Essential Healthcare

We dive a little deeper into the Trump administration's new contraception coverage rule to expose the falsehoods that the administration is relying on in order to take away contraception coverage from millions of American women under the guise of religious freedom. As you’ll see, in its justification for the new rule, the Trump administration engages in a factual and legal analysis that ranges from misleading to flat-out false.

Trump Administration To Issue Unprecedented New Regulations That Would Let Bosses Deny Women Access To Contraception

Today, the Trump administration confirmed what was leaked yesterday: It plans to issue a new regulation that could result in millions of women across the country losing access to contraception and allow bosses to make personal health care decisions for their female employees.

Trump Administration’s Attack On Women’s Health And Equality Escalates

Religious freedom is a fundamental American value. It gives us all the right to believe—or not—as we see fit. But it doesn’t give anyone the right to harm or discriminate against others. Denying women access to contraception in the name of religion is discrimination, plain and simple.

Texas State Senate Passes Dangerous Adoption Bill In Final Days Of Legislative Session

The Texas legislature only meets every other year. So, with the last day of session rapidly approaching, the past few days—yes, even including the weekend—have been wild. And the result: a lot of harmful policies are closer to becoming law.

Federal Appeals Court Should Rule Religion Can’t Be Used As Excuse To Discriminate Against Gavin Grimm And Other Transgender Students

Gavin Grimm didn’t ask to be the face of the fight for transgender civil rights in America. But that’s just what he became when he asked his Virginia high school to recognize his humanity.

Another Loss For Those Wanting To Use Religion As An Excuse To Discriminate

Today the Kentucky Court of Appeals (the state’s intermediate appellate court) issued an opinion in another one of the series of cases involving a commercial business claiming it could refuse to serve a customer based on the religious beliefs of the owner. And it’s a loss for those who want to use religion to sidestep nondiscrimination laws.

Trump Administration Says It Will "Reassess" Key Parts Of Healthcare Law's Protections For Women And LGBTQ People

The executive order signed by President Donald Trump wasn’t the only action taken last week by the Trump Administration to signal its intent to roll back key protections against discrimination in the Affordable Care Act under the guise of religious freedom.

Alabama Enacts Two Laws That Could Allow Discrimination Against People In The Name Of Religion

Under the guise of “religious freedom,” Alabama has enacted two laws in the last ten days that are aimed at allowing discrimination against LGBTQ couples and women. Religious freedom is a fundamental American value. It guarantees us the right to believe—or not—as we see fit. It does not, however, grant anyone the right to use religion to discriminate or harm others.

 

Trump's Executive Order Continues The Assault On Religious Freedom

Yesterday, during his National Day of Prayer ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump continued his assault on religious freedom by signing an executive order. In a speech that reads more like a fake viral email than a presidential address, Donald Trump substituted showmanship for sincerity: While claiming to protect religious liberty, he trampled it.

Equality Act: Equality The Right Way

US Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and US Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) today introduced the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. It builds on our nation’s tradition of expanding civil-rights protections to ensure that more of our neighbors are protected from discrimination based on who they are.

AU And Allies: Michigan Funeral Home Can’t Use Religion To Justify Discrimination Against Transgender Employee

Americans United and our allies—76 faith leaders and 13 religious and civil-rights organizations—filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of a transgender woman who was fired because of her boss's religious beliefs about gender identity.

Texas "Religious Freedom" Bills Could Discriminate Against Children And Families

Americans United supports true religious freedom—the freedom to believe or not believe according to your own conscience. SB 892 and HB 3859 pervert this cherished American right, allowing taxpayer-funded child-welfare agencies to use their religious beliefs to harm children who need a caring home and the families that long to provide one for them.