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Join Us Today To Say #HandsOffMyBC

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Today marks a day of action against President Donald J. Trump’s attacks on contraceptive access. Last month, Trump announced regulations that would allow any employer or university, and even for-profit corporations, to use religion to deny contraception insurance coverage to their employees and students.

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We’ve Spent The Past Year Fending Off Donald Trump’s Attacks On Religious Freedom

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A year ago, when Donald Trump and Mike Pence were elected to the highest offices in the land, Americans United warned of the many threats this administration posed to church-state separation. We promised that if any of those threats came to fruition, we would be ready to fight back and defend religious freedom.

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Americans United Sues Trump Administration Over Rules That Threaten Women’s Access To Birth Control

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Americans United is following through on a promise we made when the Trump administration announced an attack on women’s healthcare last month: We’ve filed a federal lawsuit challenging the administration’s new regulations that allow employers and universities to use religion as an excuse to deny their staff and students health insurance coverage for birth control.

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The Trump Administration Is Seeking Advice On How To Use Religion To Discriminate

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The Trump Administration is taking yet another step towards making it easier for taxpayer-funded organizations to use religion to discriminate.

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North Dakota Couple Sues Catholic Charities After Being Denied Adoption

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The Associated Press reports that a North Dakota couple filed a lawsuit against Catholic Charities for refusing to let them adopt a 15-year-old girl who had been in foster care for eight years because they were living together before they were married.

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New Trump Administration Policies Are A Blueprint For Using Religion To Discriminate

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From AU's Wall of Separation blog:

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Last Friday, the Trump Administration announced major policy changes that significantly weaken the principle of church-state separation and serve as a blueprint for using religion to discriminate, especially against women and LGBTQ people.

The two new rules that offer organizations and corporations the right to deny women insurance coverage for contraception made the news. Less coverage was given to the Department of Justice’s 25-page guidance titled, “Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty.” This guidance contains extreme interpretations of the law in an effort to give a greenlight to religious exemptions, regardless of how an exemption would affect other people or the public interest.

Religious freedom is a fundamental value, but it does not allow religion to be used as an excuse to harm other people.

Here are just a few of the most troubling ways the guidance could be used:

  • People and corporations may cite religion as an excuse to ignore nondiscrimination laws that protect women and LGBTQ people.
  • Taxpayer-funded organizations can claim a right to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion. They can also use a religious litmus test to decide whom they will serve within the government-funded social service program and which services they will provide, even if it conflicts with the terms of the government grant or contract.
  • The government will give religious exemptions to businesses and government employees, even if the result is taking away a right or benefit the law guarantees to someone else.

In other words, the guidance allows taxpayer-funded organizations, corporations, and individuals to use religion as a trump card to almost any law.

This guidance misses the mark: Our laws should be a shield to protect religious freedom and not a sword to harm others. Our country is strongest when we are all free to believe or not, as we see fit, and to practice our faith without hurting others.

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With New Birth Control Rule, Trump Administration Ramps Up Attack On Women’s Healthcare

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Religious freedom is about fairness. It means we don’t treat people differently because their beliefs are different from ours. It isn’t fair to deny women access to vital healthcare—a benefit guaranteed by law. Stripping insurance coverage for birth control is nothing more than discrimination.

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Most Americans Believe Religion Is No Excuse To Discriminate Against The LGBTQ Community

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A recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) revealed that at 53 percent, the majority of Americans oppose restricting the rights of the LGBTQ community. An even more promising finding for America’s future: About two-thirds of young adults believe wedding-based businesses should not be allowed to refuse services to same-sex couples on religious grounds.

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Michigan Law Allowing State-Contracted Foster Care Organizations To Use Religion As Excuse To Turn Away Families Challenged In Court

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Religious freedom is about fairness. It’s not fair to the children who will remain in foster care longer when state contractors use religion to reject qualified families who want to provide safe, loving homes.

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Join Americans United In Pledging That Religious Freedom Is About Fairness

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As we approach the start of a new U.S. Supreme Court term that will include two cases with major church-state separation implications, you can show your support for religious freedom and AU’s work by pledging that “Religious Freedom Is About Fairness.”

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US House To Vote On Amendment Blocking DC Nondiscrimination Law

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Today, the House of Representatives will likely vote on an amendment to a large spending bill that would prohibit the District of Columbia from enforcing one of its employment nondiscrimination laws.