Action Alert Archive
Advance bill to protect children by repealing faith-based exemptions
Last month, we asked you to contact your legislators and urge them to support a good bill that would repeal faith-based healing protections for parents who choose not to seek medical attention for their children based on their religious beliefs. That bill recently passed the Washington Senate and is one step closer to becoming law.
This bill will next be heard this Friday by the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary. Please keep the pressure on legislators to pass this important measure and protect children by repealing faith-based exemptions.
Currently, Washington has a law that protects these parents from legal charges even if their children die as a result of this negligence. S.B. 5749 aims to remove this exemption as it relates to “criminal mistreatment of children and vulnerable adults.”
The law currently states: “It is the intent of the Legislature that a person who, in good faith, is furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner in lieu of medical care is not considered deprived of medically necessary health care or abandoned.”
If this bill passes, this language will be removed and children will no longer be at risk of death because of the state sanctioning their parents’ dangerous religious beliefs. Please use our automated system to urge the members of this committee to vote yes on S.B. 5749.
If you are able, please attend the committee meeting on Friday, Feb. 21, and make your support of this bill known in person. More details can be found here.
More »Urge the Virginia House of Delegates to cease legislative prayer
Please take a moment to urge your delegate to discontinue the practice of legislative prayer.
The Virginia House of Delegates recently opened a meeting on the House floor with a six-minute-long divisive prayer that condemned marriage equality and reproductive rights, and threatened legislators with the wrath of God.
Robert Grant Jr. a pastor at the Father’s Way Church in Warrenton, Va., said, in part, during his invocation:
“God is also judgment. Please do not provoke his anger and bring wrath upon this state by what you create as law. Biblical history is very clear, His wrath upon the earth is documented. We are not exempt. If he does not grant us mercy for the atrocities that are being done, we will eventually encounter the judgment of the Almighty God and may the Lord have mercy upon us all.”
When he went on to extol “traditional marriage,” the gavel dropped and delegates reciting the Pledge of Allegiance drowned out what was left of the prayer. Some members even walked out.
Watch a video of this prayer here.
This dangerous and belligerent speech has no place commencing our secular lawmaking process. FFRF has submitted a formal letter to House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn advising the body to end religious prayers at government meetings. Now, we need you to contact your legislator and ask that they discontinue this unnecessary and discriminatory practice. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Georgia: Oppose discriminatory adoption policy
The Georgia Legislature is considering a bill that would allow taxpayer-funded child-placing agencies to discriminate based on religion — and we need your help to stop it.
Georgia S.B. 368, currently in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, would prohibit the state from taking any action against a child-placing agency that declines to facilitate adoptions conflicting with the agency’s “religious or moral convictions.” If passed, the law would allow these agencies the right to refuse services to, among many other groups, LGBTQ families and children.
This bill is part of Project Blitz, a Christian fundamentalist nationwide push that seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious template bills, imposing the theocratic vision of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we most cherish about our democracy, and now must tirelessly defend.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, there were more than 440,000 children in foster care in the United States in 2017. Some 50,000 of these children will be adopted every year through the child welfare system, while another 20,000 will “age out” of the system before being adopted. Allowing agencies to turn away parents looking to adopt, on the basis of their religion, is both morally reprehensible and puts further financial burden on an already strained child-welfare system.
The health and care of a child should be the only factor that an agency and its employees consider when looking to place a child in a foster care or adoptive family — not advancing the bigoted agendas of those promoting discrimination at the expense of children in need.
Please use our simple, automated system to ask the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee to reject this harmful bill. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below, follow the prompt provided, and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Ask your U.S. legislators to support Darwin Day resolutions!
In the age of “fake news” and “alternative facts,” we need you to stand up for reason and critical thinking in government by supporting Darwin Day resolutions in Congress.
Two resolutions, House Resolution 847 and Senate Resolution 495, have been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate. The resolutions designate today, Feb. 12, as Darwin Day in order to promote scientific research of global warming and climate change, and the integrity of science education in our public school systems.
Please use our automated system to contact your legislators and ask them to support the Darwin Day resolutions. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Support ratification of the ERA today
Last month, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, outlawing discrimination on the basis of gender.
The ERA now meets the three-fourths threshold the Constitution requires for amendments. But new questions have arisen about the validity of a decades-old deadline set for states to adopt the amendment. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote this Thursday, Feb. 13, on whether to remove this deadline for adoption of the ERA, which will allow this amendment to move forward.
Religious extremists have unsurprisingly attempted to undermine the ERA’s recent traction, peddling the dubious claim that it is meant to legalize state-sponsored abortion. In a recent statement, the League of Catholic Bishops stated that “the ERA hurts women and the unborn.”
On the contrary, the ERA is a long overdue measure to achieve gender equality under the law. This amendment is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans — 94 percent according to a recent survey — and your representative needs to hear your support of the resolution to remove the deadline for adoption.
The Equal Rights Amendment has always been opposed by the Religious Right and Christian Nationalists. The Roman Catholic Church, Protestant fundamentalists and the Mormon Church tirelessly lobbied against this mandate for equality. Our public and social policy must not be dictated by religion and ultraconservative Christian denominations. Please urge your U.S. representative to support H.J. Res. 79 before its upcoming hearing on Thursday, Feb. 13. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Thank the Clark County Board for removing prayer from meetings
Please show your appreciation of the Clark County School District for its adherence to the Constitution.
The district recently discontinued the practice of beginning school board meetings with prayer after receiving a complaint from FFRF. According to local reports, 30 pastors are planning to speak at the school board meeting this Thursday, Feb. 13, in protest of FFRF’s victory. It’s important that secular Clark County residents attend this meeting and speak up in support of this decision.
The school board, FFRF wrote in a letter to the district, cannot lend its power and prestige to religion, amounting to a governmental endorsement of religion that excludes the 24 percent of Americans who are nonreligious, including 38 percent of Americans born after 1987. FFRF successfully litigated the most recent case striking down a school board prayer practice, in which Chino Valley (Calif.) School District’s board paid out more than $280,000 in fees and costs.
The Clark County School District informed FFRF last month that the board will no longer begin meetings with an invocation. This is a victory for all families in the district. Keeping school board meetings free of religious proselytizing makes the community inclusive, regardless of religious beliefs. It also avoids opening the district up to a costly legal battle with hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on the line.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:
- Contact the Clark County School District Board of Trustees and thank it for keeping school board meetings free of religious proselytizing. Click on the red “TAKE ACTION!” link below to be directed to the board’s comment page. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are the most effective.
- Attend the board’s meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 5 p.m. and share your support for this decision in person. Details can be found here.
TALKING POINTS
I want to thank the board for choosing to discontinue the practice of beginning each meeting with a prayer. This is a positive step toward making the district inclusive of all students and families, regardless of religious beliefs. It will ensure Clark County is not at risk of spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in a costly legal battle over settled law. Religious prayer at school board meetings is unnecessary, exclusionary and illegal. This board made the wise and responsible decision by deciding to forego prayer at meetings.
Speak out against slate of anti-LGBTQ bills in Colorado
Colorado legislators have introduced a dangerous package of anti-LGBTQ bills, and your lawmakers need to hear your opposition. These six religiously based bills, largely targeting LGBTQ rights in Colorado, are a coordinated attack on secular law:
- HB20-1272 is a patently unconstitutional bill that restricts marriage to “one man and one woman, regardless of judicial decisions to the contrary.”
- HB20-1033, the “Live and Let Live Act,” is a Project Blitz bill that would allow people to discriminate against LGBTQ Coloradans based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
- HB20-1114 criminalizes doctors for adhering to prevailing medical standards by providing trans youth with gender-affirming care.
- HB20-1273 prohibits trans girls and women from participating in exclusively “female” sports.
- HB20-1144 would, among other things, allow parents to exempt their children from state-mandated vaccination requirements.
- HB20-1063 is a far-reaching bill which establishes strict scrutiny (a very high legal standard) for any state imposition on parental rights. When paired with the above mentioned bill, this drastically limits the government’s ability to provide education and protection to Colorado children.
This is a clear and coordinated attack on LGBTQ citizens presented under the guise of preserving religious liberty. These bills have a hearing in the House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee this Thursday, Feb. 13. Please let the members of this committee know these bills do not align with your values as a Colorado voter.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:
- Click the red “Take Action!” link below to email or call your legislators and share your opposition to this coordinated host of anti-LGBTQ bills. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
- Attend the hearing on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 1:30 p.m. and speak in opposition to these bills in person. More information can be found here.
- Speak out against these bills on social media.
Tell Wisconsin legislators not to give churches preferential tax treatment
The Wisconsin Legislature has introduced two bills intended to give preferential tax treatment to religious institutions, and your representatives need to hear your opposition.
Churches are lobbying the Wisconsin Legislature to create a special property tax exemption that removes more property from the tax rolls. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has registered in support of these two bills, Assembly Bill 771 and Senate Bill 726, which would allow churches to become commercial landlords as long as they are renting their property to private schools or nonprofit entities. Please use our automated system below to contact your legislators today and tell them to oppose these bills.
The bills single out property owned by a “church or religious association or institution” for tax exemption, even if the church profits off of the rental. Other nonprofit entities in Wisconsin are excluded from receiving the same benefit. This bill would allow churches and religious nonprofits, but not secular nonprofits, to operate tax-exempt rental properties for the purpose of generating income.
Current law allows property owned by a nonprofit to be tax exempt if it is rented to another nonprofit only in narrow circumstances. To be exempt, the nonprofit landlord must use the rental income for either maintenance costs or to pay debt related to the construction of the leased property. As the city of Milwaukee has pointed out, the current law ensures that tax-exempt organizations do not become “real estate investors.”
More importantly, the bills are unconstitutional. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from giving preferential tax treatment to religious entities. The Supreme Court struck down special tax exemptions targeted at churches in the case Texas Monthly Inc. v. Bullock. Wisconsin’s Constitution, Article VIII, § 1, also requires “uniform” real estate taxation. Because only churches would benefit from the law (and not all nonprofits), the bill would fail scrutiny under both the U.S. and Wisconsin Constitutions.
The city of Milwaukee estimates that it would lose an additional $6.7 million to its tax base, which would result in more than $175,000 reduction in tax revenue each year. Of course, if the exemption is added, many more churches may seek to become commercial landlords.
The impact on taxation of other communities is not known. With the expansion of voucher schools across Wisconsin, churches may seek to take advantage and acquire new properties for the purpose of renting them to pop-up voucher schools. Tell your legislators to oppose these unconstitutional bills!
Please oppose Iowa bill to expand religious privilege
The Iowa Legislature has introduced a new bill that would drastically expand religious privilege in the state.
The bill, S.F. 508, is a state version of the federal law called RFRA, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The federal RFRA law is directly responsible for the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby debacle, allowing religious business owners to avoid following laws that they say conflict with their religious beliefs. State RFRAs, based on the federal version, are emboldening corporations and business owners to discriminate against LGBTQ people, religious minorities and the nonreligious, and any other group their religion declares inferior.
In 2015, Indiana received intense backlash when then-Gov. Mike Pence signed a state RFRA into law. Today, about 20 states have some version of RFRA on the books. Please take action today to help ensure that Iowa will not be next by opposing S.F. 508.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTON
1. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below to contact members of the Senate Committee on Local Government to urge them to oppose this bill. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
2. Attend the hearing and oppose the bill in person. The Senate Committee on Local Government will hold a hearing on this bill Thursday, Feb. 13, in Room 22 in the Capitol at 9:30 a.m.
3. Write an op-ed opposing S.F. 508 in your local Iowa paper.
Please support New York’s pro-reproductive health bill!
The New York Legislature is considering a good bill that would increase regulations governing so-called “crisis pregnancy centers.”
If passed, Senate Bill S2264 would require any Crisis Pregnancy Center to promptly disclose that it is not a licensed medical provider and will not provide abortions or birth control or make a referral for these services.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers are anti-science clinics that disseminate erroneous and misleading information about abortions to dissuade women from accessing one. Some women are led to believe that they are seeing a licensed medical provider when they are, in fact, being peddled anti-abortion propaganda by religious charlatans. Abortion is a time-sensitive issue, and no time should be delayed accessing the necessary care. These centers are almost exclusively backed by religious groups and are intended to steer women away from accessing reproductive care in order to carry out the group’s own dogmatic religious agenda.
This measure is an imperative clampdown on fallacious, anti-women propaganda, and your New York legislators need to hear your support.
The Senate Women’s Committee has a hearing on this bill next Monday, Feb. 10. Please use our simple, automated system to contact the members of this committee and urge them to pass Senate Bill S2264. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »TAKE ACTION: Eight federal agencies seek rule changes to weaponize “religious liberty”
Eight extremely influential federal agencies have proposed changes to the rules governing how they work with religious organizations. Under the guise of protecting “religious liberty,” the goal of these eight proposals is to allow faith-based organizations to receive federal funding without complying with nondiscrimination laws.
If these rules are implemented, they will mandate taxpayer-funded discrimination in the name of religious belief. For example, one proposal would allow the VA to fund religious projects that discriminate against the one-quarter of U.S. veterans who are not religious.
The negative ramifications of these proposals would be widespread. Allowing these rule changes to take effect would give taxpayer-funded government agencies a dangerous amount of discretion to administer public services to only those people who align with their religious beliefs. By funding discrimination in the name of God, the government will be funding religion.
We are asking you to submit a comment on each of these proposed rule changes. Unfortunately, due to the process by which the federal government accepts public comments on these sorts of regulations, this is not a process we can automate, but if you follow the steps below, we hope to simplify it as much as possible.
FFRF has submitted official comments on each of these eight proposals. For more details on each department's rule changes, you can find FFRF's letter linked under each heading.
STEPS TO COMMENT:
- Click on the link that says “Click here to comment” under each proposed rule in this email. You will be taken to the Federal Register page pertaining to the corresponding rule proposal.
- Click on the green button in the upper righthand corner that says “Submit a Formal Comment.”
- Fill out the corresponding comment form. We have provided suggested talking points for each department’s proposed changes. Feel free to copy and paste the suggested message. Personalized comments are most influential.
All comments are due by Tuesday, Feb. 18th! The Trump administration released all these rules at one time hoping to overwhelm us into inaction. They don’t want you to comment in opposition, but we do. We must heed every opportunity to hold this theocratic administration accountable for degrading state/church separation.
1. Department of Veterans Affairs
ID: VA-2020-VACO-0003-0001
RIN: 2900-AQ75
FFRF's submitted comment.
Comment Suggestion:
I strongly oppose the Department of Veterans Affairs proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. No one should be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
The proposed rule will undermine access to critical services, such as education and training, counseling, community living facilities, and many other programs for veterans. The rule eliminates key religious freedom protections for participants while inviting employment discrimination by the government-funded service providers that are supposed to be serving everyone.
This proposed rule is discriminatory and dangerous. In America, no one’s ability to get vital services should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
2. USDA
ID: USDA_FRDOC_0001-2157
RIN: 0510-AA08
FFRF's submitted comment.
Comment Suggestion:
I strongly oppose the USDA’s proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. No one should be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
The proposed rule will undermine access to critical services for youth such as school lunch programs and 4-H development and mentoring programs. The rule eliminates key religious freedom protections for participants while inviting employment discrimination by the government-funded service providers that are supposed to be serving everyone.
This proposed rule is discriminatory and dangerous. In America, no one’s access to vital services should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
3. Department of Justice
ID: DOJ-OAG-2020-0001-0001
RIN: 1105-AB56
FFRF's submitted comment.
Comment Suggestion:
I strongly oppose the Department of Justice’s proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. No one should be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
The proposed rule will undermine access to critical services, such as assistance for crime victims, prisoner rehabilitation, mentorship programs for at-risk youth, and assistance for trafficked youth. The rule eliminates key religious freedom protections for participants while inviting employment discrimination by the government-funded service providers that are supposed to be serving everyone.
This proposed rule is discriminatory and dangerous. In America, no one’s ability to get vital services should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
4. Department of Health and Human Services
ID: HHS_FRDOC_0001-0752
RIN: 0991-AC13
FFRF's submitted comment.
Comment Suggestion:
I strongly oppose HHS’s proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. No one should be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom or civil rights in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
The proposed rule will undermine access to critical services, such as homeless youth programs, sex education programs, food assistance, refugee support programs, substance abuse programs, foster care and adoption services, assistance for trafficked youth, and countless others. HHS is the largest grant-making agency, so this broad rule would potentially cause millions of Americans to lose access to the services they need.
This proposed rule is discriminatory and dangerous. In America, no one’s ability to get vital services should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
5. Department of Education
ID: ED-2019-OPE-0080-0001
RIN: 2019-26937
FFRF's submitted comment.
Comment Suggestion:
I strongly oppose the Department of Education’s proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. No one should be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom or civil rights in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
For example, the rule would eliminate religious freedom protections for college prep and work-study programs intended to help high school students from low-income families prepare for college. This would also impact federally funded afterschool and summer learning programs for students in high-poverty, low-performing schools.
This proposed rule is discriminatory and dangerous. In America, no one’s ability to get an education should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
6. USAID
ID: AID_FRDOC_0001-0328
RIN: 0412-AA99
FFRF's submitted comment.
Comment Suggestion:
I strongly oppose the USAID’s proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. No one should be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
USAID funds foreign aid and development projects to assist impoverished nations, to foster goodwill towards America, and to enhance global stability. But under this rule, the primary focus would instead be to allow religious providers to get access to these funds. After the recent media report detailing how Vice President Pence improperly directed government money to religious foreign aid organizations, it is very clear what this administration intends.
The rule eliminates key religious freedom protections for participants while inviting employment discrimination by the government-funded service providers that are supposed to be serving everyone. American taxpayers should not be funding foreign proselytization efforts by religious grantees, and no one’s ability to get vital services should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
7. Department of Labor
ID: DOL_FRDOC_0001-1441
RIN: 1291-AA41
Comment Suggestion:
I strongly oppose the Department of Labor’s proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. No one should be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom or civil rights in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
The proposed rule will undermine access to critical services, such as employment training programs for older Americans, youth summer programs, and re-integration programs for homeless veterans. The rule eliminates key religious freedom protections for participants while inviting employment discrimination by the government-funded service providers that are supposed to be serving everyone.
This proposed rule is discriminatory and dangerous. In America, no one’s ability to get vital services should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
8. Department of Homeland Security
ID DHS-2019-0049-0001
RIN 1601-AA93
FFRF's submitted comment.
Comment Suggestion:
I strongly oppose the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. No one should be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
The proposed rule will undermine access to critical services, such as emergency preparedness training and programs, disaster recovery programs, and citizenship instructions and resources for immigrants. The rule eliminates key religious freedom protections for participants while inviting employment discrimination by the government-funded service providers that are supposed to be serving everyone.
This proposed rule is discriminatory and dangerous. In America, no one’s ability to get vital services should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
More »SOUTH DAKOTA: Speak out against anti-trans bill
The South Dakota Legislature is considering a bill that would criminalize doctors who provide medically necessary treatment to transgender youth, most notably prohibiting puberty-blocking medication. South Dakota legislators need to hear your opposition to this discriminatory measure.
This bill, H.B. 1057, puts private medical decisions in the hands of lawmakers and endangers transgender youth in the interest of advancing a dogmatic religious ideology. If passed, it would make it a felony for doctors to adhere to prevailing medical standards by providing gender-affirming care.
Anti-LGBTQ legislative efforts are rooted in religious dogma. For example, the nationwide effort known as Project Blitz includes sweeping anti-LGBTQ measures while advancing the lie that America is a Christian nation, aiming to cement religiously motivated discrimination into the law.
The South Dakota Senate Committee on Health and Human Services has a hearing on this bill next Monday, Feb. 10. These senators need to hear your opposition. Legislative offices tally the calls and contacts received in opposition and support of controversial issues, and it is essential that South Dakota citizens make it clear they will not tolerate this discrimination so the Religious Right cannot claim a mandate.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION
- Attend the committee hearing next Monday. More information can be found here.
- Click on the red “Take Action” link below to contact the Senate Health and Human Service committee members and urge them to oppose this bill. Please take a moment to personalize the talking points provided.
- Speak out against HB 1057 on social media.
- Consider writing a letter to the editor in opposition to HB 1057 in your local South Dakota paper.
Please support Missouri’s anti-conversion therapy bill
Missouri could become the next state to ban conversion therapy for minors, and your legislators need to hear your support of this bill.
The bill, S.B. 658, would protect LGBTQ youth from the barbaric, pseudoscientific religious treatment deceitfully called “conversion therapy” by restricting any licensed physician or mental health care professional in the state from engaging in the practice.
Conversion therapy is a dangerous and discredited practice aimed at altering a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity, often basing the “therapy” in religious shame and guilt. Many governmental health organizations have denounced the practice as both physically and psychologically traumatizing. Individuals who endure this so-called treatment are at a higher risk for suicide and depression. Read more.
This bill is currently in front of the Senate Professional Registration Committee. Please use our simple, automated system to urge the members of this committee to advance S.B. 658. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Please support Kentucky’s anti-conversion therapy bill
Kentucky could become the next state to ban conversion therapy for minors, and your legislators need to hear your support of this bill.
The bill, S.B. 85, would protect LGBTQ youth from the barbaric, pseudoscientific religious treatment deceitfully called “conversion therapy” by restricting any licensed physician or mental health care professional in the state from engaging in the practice.
Conversion therapy is a dangerous and discredited practice aimed at altering a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity, often basing the “therapy” in religious shame and guilt. Many governmental health organizations have denounced the practice as both physically and psychologically traumatizing. Individuals who endure this so-called treatment are at a higher risk for suicide and depression. Read more.
This bill is currently in front of the Senate Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee with bipartisan sponsorship. Please use our simple, automated system to urge the members of this committee to advance S.B. 85. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Tennessee: Tell State Senate to reject anti-choice bill
The Tennessee Legislature has introduced an anti-abortion bill that prohibits the state from funding abortion services because doing so would — wait for it — be a violation of state/church separation.
The bill, S.B. 1418, seeks to prohibit state funding of abortion services because it constitutes an endorsement of “nonsecular conduct that is inseparably linked to the religion of Secular Humanism.”
In summary, the Tennessee Legislature — the same body that recently passed a bill that would permit taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to turn away LGBTQ families based on “religious convictions” — is suddenly concerned with keeping state and church separate.
The job of elected officials is to enact policies that protect and improve the well-being of their constituents, not to impose their own dogmatic religious beliefs. Not only is abortion a constitutionally protected freedom, but access to safe and legal abortion is correlated with improvements in women’s sexual and reproductive health, economic opportunity and overall well-being. The only organized opposition to abortion is religious in nature, predicated on the religious concept of “ensoulment,” thereby making reproductive rights a state/church separation matter. But this bill gets it backward by suggesting that the “religion” of secular humanism is behind the push for access to safe, legal abortions.
S.B. 1418 is currently in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. These senators need to hear your opposition to this bill. Legislative offices tally the calls and contacts received in opposition and support of controversial issues, and it is essential that pro-choice Tenesseans make your voice heard so the Religious Right cannot claim a mandate.
More »Please speak out against Missouri “license to discriminate” bill
The Missouri Legislature is considering a bill that would give student groups at public universities the license to discriminate based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
In order to ensure that campus groups are welcoming of all students, the majority of U.S. public colleges and universities have non-discrimination policies that prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, etc. This bill, HB 1926, aims to exempt religious student groups from these nondiscrimination policies, in order to allow particular groups to exclude unwanted members. For example, some religious students seek to exclude LGBTQ people or to restrict leadership only to those with particular religious views.
Similar laws have popped up in states across the country under the guise of protecting the religious convictions of college students. The true intent and impact of these bills, however, is to allow groups to exclude based on religion, while those students still reap the taxpayer-funded benefits of being endorsed by their public school.
This bill will be considered by the Missouri Committee on Career Readiness next Wednesday, Jan. 29. The members of this committee need to hear your opposition to this bill. Click on the red “Take Action!” below and feel free to use or adapt the talking point provided. If you are able to attend the hearing next week, please consider sharing your opposition in person.
Special Committee on Career Readiness Hearing Details
Date: Jan. 29, 2020
Time: Noon
Location: House Hearing Room 6
More information here.
New Hampshire: Please take action on two upcoming education bills
The New Hampshire House Education Committee is considering two bills related to religion in schools next week and they need to hear you weigh in.
The first bill, HB 1148, seeks to place the theocratic motto “In God We Trust” in New Hampshire public schools. This bill is part of the nationwide legislative push, Project Blitz. Project Blitz seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious bills, imposing the theocratic version of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties.
While politicians claim that these laws are intended to showcase the national motto or inspire patriotism, it’s clear from the bill’s pandering language that their true purpose is to peddle religiosity to a captive audience. This bill is about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, and dismantling the wall of separation between religion and government. The motto “In God We Trust” is inaccurate and exclusionary, and this bill is aimed at brainwashing American schoolchildren into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
We need your help to ensure that a captive audience of impressionable students aren’t forced to view a motto that falsely equates piety with patriotism. This bill will be reviewed in committee on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
The second bill, HB 1306, is a good piece of legislation that would repeal an existing law that permits schools to recite the Lord’s prayer in public elementary schools in the state. Although not enforceable, leaving such a law on the books perpetuates the myth that we are a Christian nation, and repealing this law is a positive step to preserve secular public education. The committee will review this bill on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Please use our simple, automated system to contact the members of the N.H. Education Committee members and urge them to vote no on HB 1148 and to vote yes on HB 1306. Click on the red “Take Action!” link. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. If you are able to attend either of these House Education Committee hearings next week, please consider doing so to share your thoughts with lawmakers in person.
More »Urge S.C. senators to support Pro-Birth Accountability Act
A new bill introduced in the South Carolina Legislature would require that if the state bans abortion care, it must pay all costs associated with birthing and raising children born as a result.
SB 928, dubbed the “Pro-Birth Accountability Act,” is a retort to the swath of legislators across the country attempting to force women to give birth to unwanted or nonviable pregnancies against their will.
The bill states: “Just as South Carolina may not constitutionally use a citizen’s rental property without just compensation, it may not constitutionally require a woman to incubate a child without appropriate compensation.”
Restrictive abortion laws are a tactic of Christian supremacists to effectively overturn Roe v. Wade, which affirmed the legal right to abortion in 1973. This is a critical state/church issue because these laws are based on the dogmatic religious belief that ensoulment takes place at conception. People who oppose abortion should not have one, but they also have no right to use their positions of power to inject religion into our secular laws. And if they do, South Carolina SB 928 contends, the state ought to be accountable for the financial repercussions of that forced pregnancy.
This bill is currently in front of the Senate Committee on Medical Affairs — and the members need to hear from South Carolina constituents in support of this bill. Please click on the red “Take Action!” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Urge Florida legislators to reject bible classes in public schools
Two bills have been introduced in the Florida Legislature that would require all public schools to offer bible classes.
The corresponding bills, HB 341 and SB 746, mandate all Florida public schools offer “an objective study of the Bible, including, but not limited to, a course on the Hebrew Scriptures and Old Testament of the Bible, a course on the New Testament of the Bible, and a course of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament of the Bible and the New Testament of the Bible.”
The bills were introduced by self-proclaimed exorcist and state Rep. Kim Daniels, a Christian evangelist who has thanked God for slavery and has minimized the horrors of the Holocaust because “the Jews own everything.”
While politicians often claim that these laws are intended to teach the bible in the context of U.S. history, we know their true agenda is to abuse their access to young and impressionable children and indoctrinate them with religious orthodoxy. Besides the obvious bias in requiring classes on one specific set of religious texts and no others, public school bible classes have been tried across the country and have invariably ended up unconstitutionally promoting religion.
Mandatory bible class bills are unnecessary, inappropriate and expose public schools to potentially costly legal battles when the line between state and church is inevitably breached. Please use our simple, automated system to urge your legislators to stop these bills. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Washington: Tell your legislators to protect children by repealing faith-based exemptions
Two bills have been introduced in the Washington House and Senate that would repeal faith-based healing protections for parents who choose not to seek medical attention for their children based on their religious beliefs. Currently, Washington has a law that protects these parents from legal charges even if their children die as a result of this negligence.
The two companion bills, HB 1376 and SB 5749, aim to remove this exemption as it relates to “criminal mistreatment of children and vulnerable adults.”
The law currently states that: “It is the intent of the Legislature that a person who, in good faith, is furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner in lieu of medical care is not considered deprived of medically necessary health care or abandoned.”
If these two proposed bills are passed, this language will be removed and children will no longer be at risk of death because of the state sanctioning their parents’ dangerous religious beliefs. Please ask the members of both the House and Senate committees reviewing these bills to support them. The Washington Legislature collects comments on proposed bills on their website. Click on the links below to access the comment page for the corresponding body and click on the green button on the right side of the page that reads "comment on this bill."
TALKING POINTS
As a Washington constituent, I am urging you to support HB 1376/SB 5749, which will remove faith-based healing exemptions for parents whose religious beliefs and subsequent medical neglect result in their children’s death.
Currently, practitioners of religions that discourage seeking medical attention can claim an explicit exemption from liability for their children’s health, even if their child dies as a result of this neglect. This is unacceptable. Elected officials have an obligation to pass laws that protect the most vulnerable among us, including children.
Allowing parents to dodge responsibility for the health and well-being of their children based on their religious beliefs is an affront to the rights of children. Please support HB 1376/SB 5749. Thank you.
More »Please resist 'In God We Trust' on public buildings
The Missouri Legislature is considering two bills that would require every government-owned building to display “In God We Trust.” We need your help to ensure that Missouri residents are not subjected to government-sponsored proselytizing.
These two bills, HB 1712 and HB 1294, are part of the nationwide legislative push Project Blitz, which seeks to inject state legislatures across the country with a whole host of religious bills. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties, imposing the theocratic vision of a powerful few on We The People.
While politicians claim that these laws are intended to showcase the national motto or inspire patriotism, it is clear that their true purpose is to peddle religiosity to a captive audience. These laws are about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, dismantling the wall between religion and government. The motto "In God We Trust" is inaccurate, exclusionary, and aimed at brainwashing American schoolchildren into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
These bills are currently in the early stages, so it’s critical that lawmakers hear opposition from constituents to stop both bills in their tracks. Please use our simple, automated system to contact your representative and ask that they reject this thinly veiled attempt to inject religion into our public schools. Feel free to use or adapt the talking point provided.
More »URGENT: Tell Arizona lawmakers to reject anti-LGBTQ sex education bill
A dangerous, religiously motivated bill would restrict age-appropriate sex education and ban discussions of LGBTQ people in Arizona public schools. We need your help to stop this.
State Sen. Sylvia Allen has proposed SB 1082, which would remove the word “homosexuality” from all public school teaching materials and forbid schools from teaching sex education to students under the age of 12. Allen, a conservative Christian who has previously called for mandatory church attendance and recently warned colleagues about the “browning of America,” is also the chair of the Senate Education Committee.
This infiltration of church dogma into public school classrooms endangers the health of students exposed to it. It is wildly irresponsible to codify a religious worldview that erases LGBTQ youth and censors public schools from providing age-appropriate sex education.
This proposed legislation is scheduled for a hearing by the Senate’s Education Committee tomorrow — Tuesday, Jan. 14. It is critical that members hear your opposition to this arcane bill. If you are able, please attend tomorrow’s meeting and speak out in opposition to this bill.
If you are not able to speak in person, please use our simple, automated system to contact the members of the committee and let them know that these proposals are not aligned with Arizona values. Click on the red “Take Action!” button below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
Senate Education Committee Hearing
Day: Tuesday, Jan. 14
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: SHR 1
Tell Nebraska gov. to rescind call to “pray to end abortion”
Last week, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts issued a proclamation to mark Jan. 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, as a “Statewide Day of Prayer to End Abortion.” Ricketts declares that it is “right and fitting that the citizens of the state of Nebraska are urged to pray for an end to abortion.” It’s critical Ricketts hears from you — his constituent — that these draconian religious views do not align with the popular will of Nebraskans.
The Nebraska government has no business — and no power — to tell citizens when or whether to pray, much less what to pray about.
The proclamation treats a constitutionally protected right — a right the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in Roe v. Wade — as though it were unlawful. It wrongly declared that “Nebraska is a pro-life state.” In fact, more Nebraskans — 50 percent — think abortion should be legal in all or most cases than think it should be illegal (46 percent). Ricketts is abusing the power of his office to erroneously declare a minority religious view to be official state policy.
FFRF sent a letter of complaint to Ricketts last week urging him to get off his knees and instead get to work to protect established constitutional principles as his oath of office demands of him.
Here’s how you can object:
- Click on the red “Take Action” link below to contact Ricketts’ office by email or phone to urge him to rescind this proclamation. Calls are the most effective method of getting the attention of elected officials. Please feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
- Tweet Gov. Ricketts (@GovRicketts) with a message about your opposition.
- Consider writing a letter to the editor against this in your local paper.
Please resist N.M. “In God We Trust” bill
The New Mexico Legislature is fast-tracking a bill that would require all public buildings and license plates in the state to display “In God We Trust.” We need your help to ensure that New Mexico residents are not subjected to government-sponsored Christian proselytizing.
HB 115 is part of the nationwide legislative push, Project Blitz. Project Blitz seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious bills, imposing the theocratic version of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we cherish most about our democracy, and now must tirelessly defend.
While politicians claim that these laws are intended to showcase the national motto or inspire patriotism, it is clear that their true purpose is to peddle religiosity to a captive audience. These laws are about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, dismantling the wall of separation between religion and government. The motto “In God We Trust” is inaccurate, exclusionary and aimed at brainwashing American schoolchildren into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
Please use our automated system to contact your representative and ask that they stop this bill in its tracks.
More »New Jersey: Please tell legislators to eliminate vaccination religious exemptions
The New Jersey Senate is poised to pass a piece of legislation eliminating religious exemptions from vaccine requirements for public school students.
Many states, including New Jersey, allow parents to claim a religious exemption from regulations that require they vaccinate their children. When parents choose not to vaccinate, it not only compromises the health of their own children, but also jeopardizes the “herd immunity” for those who cannot receive vaccinations for health reasons.
This bill, N.J. A. 3818, would improve the state’s ability to combat infectious diseases by removing the possibility of religious exemption from mandatory vaccines for children in public schools and day cares. For the past month, religious groups have flooded the state Capitol in opposition to this bill, claiming that “God wouldn’t give them anything they can’t handle.”
It is critical that we counter the influence of anti-science religious zealots, whose dangerous rhetoric has caused very serious and preventable infectious disease outbreaks in numerous states across the country. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the reported individual cases of measles in the first five months of 2019 surpassed the total cases per year for the past 25 years. The states that see the highest incidences of the disease are those with the most relaxed exemption laws.
The New Jersey Senate is scheduled to vote on A. 3818 on Monday, Jan. 14. Please stand up for this common sense bill that will protect New Jersey residents from the dangerous implications of others people’s religious dogma. Please use our simple, automated system to ask your senator to support A. 3818 and feel free to use or adapt the provided talking points.
More »URGENT: Please resist “In God We Trust” in schools bill!
The Indiana Legislature is fast-tracking a bill that would require public schools in the state to display “In God We Trust” in every classroom and library. We need your help to ensure that young, impressionable students aren’t subject to religious proselytization.
SB 131 is part of the nationwide legislative push, Project Blitz. Project Blitz seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious bills, imposing the theocratic version of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we cherish most about our democracy, and now must tirelessly defend.
While politicians claim that these laws are intended to showcase the national motto or inspire patriotism, it is clear that their true purpose is to peddle religiosity to a captive audience. These laws are about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, dismantling the wall of separation between religion and government. The motto “In God We Trust” is inaccurate, exclusionary and aimed at brainwashing American schoolchildren into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
Please use our automated system to contact members of the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development and ask that they stop this bill in its tracks.
More »Tennessee: Oppose discriminatory adoption policy
The Tennessee Legislature is considering a bill that would allow taxpayer-funded child-placing agencies to discriminate based on religion — and we need your help to stop it.
TN SB 1304 would prohibit the state from taking any action against a child-placing agency that declines to facilitate adoptions conflicting with the agency’s “religious or moral convictions.” If passed, the law would allow these agencies the right to refuse services to, among many other groups, LGBTQ families and children.
This bill is part of Project Blitz, a Christian fundamentalist nationwide push that seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious template bills, imposing the theocratic vision of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we most cherish about our democracy, and now must tirelessly defend.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, there were more than 440,000 children in foster care in the United States in 2017. Some 50,000 of these children will be adopted every year through the child welfare system, while another 20,000 will “age out” of the system before being adopted. Allowing agencies to turn away parents looking to adopt, on the basis of their religion, is both morally reprehensible and puts further financial burden on an already strained child-welfare system.
The health and care of a child should be the only factor that an agency and its employees consider when looking to place a child in a foster care or adoptive family — not advancing the bigoted agendas of those promoting discrimination at the expense of children in need.
Please use our simple, automated system to ask your state senator to reject this harmful bill. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below, follow the prompt provided, and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »ILLINOIS: Urge Effingham mayor to remove religious display on public property
After receiving a complaint from a local resident, FFRF wrote to Effingham, Ill. Mayor Mike Schutzbach urging him to remove a prominent mural of a Latin cross from city-owned property. The mural is located along the path between the Effingham High School sports complex and the remainder of the Effingham High School campus.
This letter has generated pushback from community members advocating for the unconstitutional religious display to remain on government property. More than 14,000 people have signed an online petition titled “Let the Cross Stay” and an event titled “Standing Up for Jesus” was planned for last weekend. Read more here.
It is patently inappropriate for a government-owned mural to prominently feature a religious display. It is especially inappropriate when the display is located where it will predominantly be viewed by public school children and staff moving across their school’s campus. We need your help to counter the religious pushback. Please contact Mayor Mike Schutzbach and urge him to ensure that this religious iconography is removed from city property.
Mayor Mike Schutzbach
(217) 342-5300
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are an Effingham-area resident, please indicate so in your message.
TALKING POINTS
Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided
As a secular Illinoisan, I urge the city of Effingham to remove the Latin cross mural from city property. It is unnecessary and divisive and makes nonbelievers and non-Christians feel politically ostracized in their own community. It also proselytizes a captive audience of public school students.
The religious significance of the Latin cross is unambiguous and indisputable. Continuing to allow a mural of a Latin cross alongside the American flag on city property send a clear message: patriotism and religiosity are interrelated and that anybody who doesn’t adhere to those beliefs is not a full and favored community member.
Thank you for your time.
More »Tell Gov. Wolf to veto church funding
The Pennsylvania Legislature is rapidly advancing a budget bill that includes giving $7 million of state funds to two Philadelphia churches for religious projects. Fortunately, the governor has the power to veto these provisions. Please use our automated system to tell Gov. Tom Wolf to keep state dollars secular.
The proposed budget would give $2 million to Grace Baptist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia, an active house of worship and ministry. The budget would also give $5 million to Bible Way Baptist Church in Philadelphia. This church’s stated goal is to transform communities of West Philadelphia “into Christian Communities,” and the church has many ministries, including three “community ministries.”
It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the state to force taxpayers to pay for these church projects. However, this funding is difficult to stop once it is approved, so it is essential that you make your voice heard now by asking Wolf to “line item” veto these awards and save taxpayers $7 million that can be used to benefit everyone in Pennsylvania rather than just Christians.
More »Please support the repeal of religious exemptions from vaccination requirements
Facing zealous opposition from religious anti-vaccination protesters, the New Jersey Legislature has postponed a final vote on a bill that would end religious exemptions from vaccine requirements for students.
Many states, including New Jersey, allow parents to claim a religious exemption from regulations that require they vaccinate their children. When parents choose not to vaccinate, it not only compromises the health of their own children, but also jeopardizes the “herd immunity” for those who cannot receive vaccinations for health reasons.
A new bill, S. 2173, would improve the state’s ability to combat infectious diseases by removing the possibility of religious exemption from mandatory vaccines. Religious groups have flooded the state Capitol in opposition to this bill, claiming that “God wouldn’t give them anything they can’t handle.”
It is critical that we counter the influence of anti-science religious zealots, whose dangerous rhetoric has caused very serious and preventable infectious disease outbreaks in numerous states across the country. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the reported individual cases of measles in the first five months of 2019 surpassed the total cases per year for the past 25 years. The states that see the highest incidences of the disease are those with the most relaxed exemption laws.
Please stand up for this common sense bill that will protect New Jersey residents from the dangerous implications of others people’s religious dogma. Please use our simple, automated system to ask your representatives to support S. 2173 and feel free to use or adapt the provided talking points.
More »Please oppose new HHS rule permitting taxpayer-funded discrimination
The Trump administration is continuing its relentless attacks on civil rights with a new rule that would allow recipients of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funding to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals in the course of their taxpayer-funded services.
Particularly distressing is the fact that this proposed rule will allow adoption and foster child-placement agencies to refuse to help LGBTQ children and parents. This rule permits HHS to choose safeguarding bigoted practices over supporting needy children.
The proposed rule change would remove LGBTQ anti-discrimination protections from its basic grant recipient requirement based on an organization’s alleged religious beliefs. Besides the fact that organizations do not possess religious beliefs to exercise — humans have religious beliefs, not companies — Americans should never be forced to fund discrimination, which is precisely what happens when taxpayer funds are awarded to an entity that uses the funds to discriminate. HHS is requesting public comments on this proposed rule change and it is important that it hears from you in opposition.
Click here to read FFRF’s full comment opposing the proposed rule change.
The public comment period on these HHS rules is open until Thursday, Dec. 19. Please join FFRF in opposing this dangerous rule change allowing for the elimination of civil rights protections for LGBTQ people. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below. You will be taken to the regulations.gov comment page where you can then fill out the prompt provided. Comments must be identified by RIN 0991-AC16. It just takes a minute or two for your voice to be heard.
TALKING POINTS
I strongly oppose the Department of Health and Human Services proposed rule change (RIN 0991-AC16) allowing taxpayer-funded entities, such as adoption and foster care agencies, to discriminate based on their so-called religious beliefs.
Besides the fact that organizations do not possess religious beliefs to exercise — humans have religious beliefs, not companies — Americans should never be forced to fund discrimination, which is precisely what happens when taxpayer funds are awarded to an entity that uses the funds to discriminate.
The department should be working toward serving more children and families in need rather than catering to discriminatory religious organizations.
More »OHIO: Please urge your legislators to oppose dangerous anti-choice bill
The Ohio Legislature has introduced a draconian bill that would require doctors to perform a medically impossible procedure or risk being charged with “abortion murder.”
H.B. 413 would outlaw abortion outright. It defines a fertilized egg as an “unborn child.” Additionally, the bill mandates doctors to “reimplant an ectopic pregnancy into the woman’s uterus” — a procedure that does not exist.
An ectopic pregnancy is a dangerous condition in which an egg is fertilized outside the uterus, rendering the pregnancy unviable and a potentially life-threatening emergency for patients. According to Dr. Chris Zahn, vice president of practice activities at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, reimplantation of an ectopic pregnancy is “not physiologically possible.”
This dystopian proposal would charge doctors who perform abortions and patients as young as 13 who have an abortion with “abortion murder,” punishable by life in prison. This bill endangers the lives of patients by restricting the medically necessary procedures doctors are able to perform. It also obliterates the fundamental freedom to abortion care protected by Roe v. Wade. Although laws criminalizing abortion are currently unenforceable, such laws would immediately spring into effect if Roe were to be overturned.
The only organized opposition to legal abortion is religious in nature, predicated on the religious concept of “ensoulment,” thereby making reproductive rights a state/church matter. Please contact your lawmakers today and urge them to strongly oppose H.B. 413. Click on the red “Take Action!” button below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »URGENT: Tell your senators to oppose anti-choice judicial nominee Sarah Pitlyk
A divided Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced a patently unqualified, ideologically extreme Trump nominee for the federal bench to the full Senate for a vote. The Senate will vote on Pitlyk TODAY, Wednesday, Dec. 4, and your legislators need to hear your voice in opposition to her confirmation.
Pitlyk has no trial experience, which is why the American Bar Association rates her as “unqualified” to be a judge. She is the fifth Trump administration nominee to receive this “unqualified” rating — the lowest rating a nominee can receive and virtually unheard of in other presidents’ judicial nominees.
Pitlyk is professionally unqualified for the role, but is ideologically aligned with the Trump administration’s Christian Nationalist agenda. Pitlyk has spent much of her legal career working to restrict women’s access to safe and legal abortions. She has equated hormonal contraceptives to abortion in an amicus brief arguing Hobby Lobby’s right to deny basic health care based on religious beliefs in defiance of the Affordable Care Act and has defended six-week abortion bans, as well as other draconian views on reproductive care.
Just yesterday, it was reported in the Huffington Post that she also opposes infertility treatments and surrogacy, stating that “surrogacy is harmful to mothers and children, so it’s a practice society should not be enforcing.”
Pitlyk has spent the last two years working at the Thomas More Society, a law firm dedicated to fighting for causes of the Religious Right, especially anti-choice cases motivated by Catholic religious dogma. Trump is willing to sacrifice the quality of the judiciary to ensure that judges are opponents of women’s health care.
Today, Dec. 4, the Senate will decide whether Pitlyk should be awarded a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. Currently, nearly one in four seats on U.S. appeals courts is filled by a judge nominated by Trump. The Senate is set to confirm a record 180 appointments to the federal bench by the end of this year. The Trump administration’s unprecedented number of appointments to the federal bench will reshape the judiciary for decades to come. It is critical that your senator hear your opposition to Pitlyk and similarly unqualified nominees.
Please use our automated system to contact both of your U.S. senators and ask them to oppose Pitlyk’s confirmation.
More »Tell your state senator to oppose bill that threatens secular Ohio public schools
Yesterday, the Ohio House of Representatives passed HB 164, the so-called “Student Religious Liberties Act.” This bill is designed to embolden public school employees to abuse their position by pushing religion on their students. We have a chance to stop this bill while it’s in front of the Ohio Senate, and we need your help.
FFRF’s Strategic Response Team testified in opposition to HB 164 in May, and the bill languished in the state House since then, until it got a surprise vote yesterday. Please consider taking a moment to use our automated system to contact your state senator and ask them to oppose HB 164. Click the red “Take Action!” link below. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
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HB 164 states that public schools may not “penalize or reward a student based on the religious content of a student’s work.” Federal and state law already provide this protection, meaning this law is redundant at best. However, some teachers will wrongly understand this to mean that they may not punish students who substitute their religious beliefs for an actual, secular lesson. For instance, students might refuse to study evolution based on their religious notions, and will point to this law to argue that giving them less than full credit would be punishing them for their religious beliefs.
The bill also singles out student religious events that public school employees often illegally participate in. For example, the bill mentions See You At The Pole, an annual prayer event that is meant to be just for students, but in practice adults, including school employees, often organize and take part in the event. This bill will give school employees the false impression that they are allowed to promote and participate in student religious events like this, which will subject public schools to legal liability.
Ironically, by jeopardizing students’ rights to a secular public school system, HB 164 would harm students’ religious liberty under the guise of promoting exactly that.
More »Please take action TODAY to help defeat theocratic federal judicial nominee
Tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 14, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Lawrence VanDyke to a lifetime position on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
It has been widely reported that the American Bar Association declared VanDyke “unqualified” to be a federal appellate judge. Beyond that damning conclusion, though, VanDyke also has a history of promoting the teaching of creationism in public schools, a practice the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 1987.
Please use our automated system to contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and tell them that unqualified theocrats do not deserve a lifetime appointment as federal appellate judges.
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According to an Alliance For Justice’s report, VanDyke published an article while he was at Harvard arguing that “intelligent design,” a version of religious creationism, is supported by enough evidence that it ought to be taught in public schools. In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7–2 that teaching intelligent design in public schools violated the Establishment Clause. As a 9th Circuit judge, VanDyke cannot be relied on to defend even this most basic tenet of secular public education.
Further, in the same paper VanDyke allegedly committed academic misconduct by egregiously misquoting Harvard biology Professor Richard Lewontin, adding an erroneous word to a Lewontin quote that reversed its meaning, giving the impression that Lewontin supported VanDyke’s advancement of intelligent design when in fact he denounced it. Legal scholar Brian Leiter described VanDyke’s conduct as “scholarly fraud.” This shows a willingness to sacrifice the truth in order to push a conservative religious agenda, a terrible trait for a federal appellate judge.
More »Urge Wisconsin lawmakers to reject Christian Nationalist resolution
This Tuesday, the Wisconsin Assembly will consider A.R. 16, “recognizing Thanksgiving week as National bible Week.” Please take a moment to urge your state representative to oppose A.R. 16 and to stand up for the constitutional separation between state and church.
The resolution “encourages us to read the bible,” but why should the government promote the Christian bible? Why encourage citizens to read a book that condemns our LGBTQ brothers and sisters to death? Why ask citizens to peruse a book that promises eternal torture and torment for them if they happen to exercise their religious liberty and not worship Jesus?
This resolution nefariously conflates patriotism and theocracy to advance Christian Nationalism. Tell the Assembly to recognize that opposing theocratic declarations like a National Bible Week is patriotic. Tell them to stand up for our godless Constitution. Follow the red “Take Action!” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
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The bible week resolution resembles a mashup of two resolutions in the Christian Nationalist Project Blitz handbook, one recognizing “Christian Heritage Week” and the other recognizing the “importance of the bible in history,” (as if there’s any danger that Americans will forget about Christianity or the bible). But this particular resolution is actually part of an older Christian Nationalist push.
Like other opportunistic insertions of Christian Nationalism throughout American history, National Bible Week has its roots in a moment of national fear: Dec. 7, 1941, the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked. To stand up and challenge any resolution in the wake of such an attack would have been seen as unpatriotic. But in reality, dedicating a week to one particular religious book directly contradicts the fundamental American principle of keeping state and church separate.
Read FFRF’s full statement here.
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Tell your senators to oppose anti-reproductive rights judicial nominee Sarah Pitlyk
Photo: Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
A divided Senate Judiciary Committee recently voted to advance a patently unqualified, ideologically extreme Trump nominee for the federal bench to the full Senate for a vote. The Senate will vote on Sarah Pitlyk on Monday, Nov. 4, and your legislators need to hear your voice in opposition to her confirmation.
Pitlyk has no trial experience, which is why the American Bar Association rates her as “unqualified” to be a judge. She is the fifth Trump administration nominee to receive this “unqualified” rating — the lowest rating a nominee can receive and virtually unheard of in other presidents’ judicial nominees.
Pitlyk is professionally unqualified for the role, but is ideologically aligned with the Trump’s administration’s Christian Nationalist agenda. Pitlyk has spent much of her legal career working to restrict women’s access to safe and legal abortions. She has equated hormonal contraceptives to abortion in an amicus brief arguing Hobby Lobby’s right to deny basic health care based on religious beliefs in defiance of the Affordable Care Act and has defended six-week abortion bans as well as other draconian views on reproductive care.
Pitlyk has spent the last two years working at the Thomas More Society, a law firm dedicated to fighting for causes of the Religious Right, especially anti-choice cases motivated by Catholic religious dogma. Trump is willing to sacrifice the quality of the judiciary to ensure that judges are opponents of women’s health care.
Next Monday, Nov. 4, the Senate will decide whether Pitlyk should be awarded a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. Please use our automated system to contact both of your U.S. senators and ask them to oppose Pitlyk’s confirmation.
More »URGENT: Oppose extremist Steve Menashi’s confirmation to appeals court
Last month, we asked you to help us oppose the lifetime appointment of yet another conservative ideologue, former White House counsel Steven Menashi to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Menashi is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow, so please take a moment to voice your opposition to his confirmation one more time today.
Menashi has a long history of undermining equality for women and LGBTQ Americans, as well as a history of inflammatory rhetoric surrounding religious issues. We need your help to stop his confirmation in the U.S. Senate.
Menashi has adopted the rhetoric of the Family Research Council — whose stated purpose is “to advance faith, family and freedom in public policy and the culture from a Christian worldview” — erroneously calling Plan B (emergency contraception) “an abortifacient.” In 2015, he called religious exemptions from civil rights laws and the inclusion of religious groups in publicly funded programs “victories” for religious liberty. He called the president of People for the American Way “hysterical” for opposing state funding of religious schools.
As a White House lawyer, Menashi has worked closely with Senior Advisor to the President Stephen Miller on advancing Trump’s draconian immigration policy. He also acted as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ right-hand man in policies to undermine protections for sexual assault survivors, students of color and victims of fraudulent for-profit colleges.
Perhaps most troubling is Menashi’s refusal to answer questions about many of his past opinions in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His silence suggests that he would abuse a lifetime appointment to the federal bench to advance his personal dogmatic beliefs.
Please use our simple, automated system to contact your senators and urge them to oppose Menashi’s confirmation to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Click on the red “Take Action!” button and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
Take action now to oppose federal funding of religious private schools
We have the opportunity to thwart a unique federal handout to religious schools.
Last week, a new U.S. Senate bill was introduced that would permanently fund the Washington, D.C., voucher program, the so-called Opportunity Scholarship program, which is the only federally funded voucher program in the country. This bill, S. 2682, would fund federal tax dollars directly into religious private schools and privately run charter schools, at the expense of D.C. public schools. Please take action today to voice your opposition to this scheme.
S. 2682 has a surprising sponsor in prominent senior California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Many are unaware of Feinstein’s support of private religious vouchers. This is likely due to her personal experience attending a private Catholic high school, where, she reportedly said, classes on Catholic doctrine helped her answer the “big questions.” She now says, “I am religious in my thinking.”
This bent toward religious thinking has led to Feinstein and anti-public education zealots like Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson becoming strange bedfellows. The bill is currently in front of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which is ironically holding a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday entitled “Rise of the Zombies: The Unauthorized and Unaccountable Government You Pay For.”
The U.S. Senate needs to know that Americans do not want to be forced to fund private religious education. Please use our automated system below to email and call your senators and urge them to oppose S. 2682.
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FFRF vigorously opposes any public funding of private schools, which are disproportionately religiously affiliated. It is deeply irresponsible and unconstitutional for Congress to force the D.C. voucher program on students. The program has proven unsuccessful, poorly managed and unaccountable to taxpayers. Research on voucher programs has found that they tend to worsen academic achievement of participatory students. The D.C. voucher program in particular has demonstrated serious oversight problems in its repeated failure to meet the accountability standards.
Secular public schools are the backbone of our American democracy — and its commitment to a government free from religious indoctrination. Public schools unite a diverse range of ethnic and religious communities, fostering tolerance and intellectual expansion. Public schools, unlike private schools, are entirely inclusive and equally serving to all students of all cultural and religious, or nonreligious, backgrounds.
The D.C. voucher program allows religious schools to discriminate against students on criteria such as gender, thus funding discrimination that would be illegal in a public school setting.
It is especially concerning to FFRF that even though private schools participating in voucher programs receive public funding, they do not abide by federal civil rights laws, and do not adhere to religious freedom protections guaranteed to public school students under the First Amendment. They do not face the same public accountability standards that all public schools must meet. Taxpayer money must not be used to fund schools that do not promise to protect the civil rights of students, or to indoctrinate.
More »Oppose extremist Steve Menashi’s confirmation to appeals court
The Trump Administration is expediting the confirmation of yet another conservative ideologue, former White House counsel Steven Menashi, to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Menashi has a long history of undermining equality for women and LGBTQ Americans, as well as a history of inflammatory rhetoric surrounding religious issues. We need your help to stop his confirmation in the U.S. Senate.
Menashi has adopted the rhetoric of the Family Research Council — whose stated purpose is “to advance faith, family and freedom in public policy and the culture from a Christian worldview” — erroneously calling Plan B (emergency contraception) “an abortifacient.” In 2015, he called religious exemptions from civil rights laws and the inclusion of religious groups in publicly funded programs “victories” for religious liberty. He called the president of People for the American Way “hysterical” for opposing state funding of religious schools.
As a White House lawyer, Menashi has worked closely with Senior Advisor to the President Stephen Miller on advancing Trump’s draconian immigration policy. He also acted as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ right-hand man in policies to undermine protections for sexual assault survivors, students of color, and victims of fraudulent for-profit colleges.
Perhaps most troubling is Menashi’s refusal to answer questions about many of his past opinions in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His silence suggests that he would abuse a lifetime appointment to the federal bench to advance his personal dogmatic beliefs.
Please use our simple, automated system to contact your senators and urge them to oppose Menashi’s confirmation to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Click on the red “Take Action!” button and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
Tell your U.S. Senators to pass Equality Act
A landmark civil rights bill is stuck in the U.S. Senate and we need your help in passing it.
Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act with bipartisan support amid great fanfare. This bill (H.R. 5) would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to “include sex, sexual orientation and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation.”
The Equality Act would modernize federal civil rights law, correcting the inadequate anti-discrimination laws in many states, where there are no legal anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. In such states, LGBTQ individuals can be fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes, denied service from restaurants and stores or refused credit from banks simply because of their identity.
After passing in the U.S. House on May 17, the Equality Act was placed in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it remains. The Judiciary Committee has not even given the Equality Act a hearing. The only organized opposition to the Equality Act is religious in nature, which is why FFRF works so hard to ensure that religious doctrine is not inscribed in U.S. civil laws or social policy.
There is overwhelming popularity for the Equality Act among the public, and U.S. senators need to feel pressure to pass it. Please take a moment to contact your senators in support of the Equality Act and ask them to do what they can so it gets a hearing and vote in the Judiciary Committee. Click on the red “Take Action” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Urge your legislators to support the No Ban Act
The Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations are holding a joint hearing today, Tuesday, Sept. 24, on “Oversight of the Trump Administration’s Travel Ban” and it focuses on one of FFRF’s key legislative initiatives, the No BAN Act.
During today’s hearing, you will hear the importance of correcting President Trump’s ill-conceived travel ban and preventing this sort of outrageous conduct in the future. While this dangerous travel ban is on top of your legislators’ minds, please ask your legislators to support the No BAN Act.
The No BAN Act repeals the president’s existing executive order blocking travel from majority Muslim countries and prevents another baseless, discriminatory travel ban from being implemented again. The bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, including those with no religion, and restores the separation of powers by limiting overly broad executive authority to issue future travel bans.
The No BAN Act is particularly important to FFRF, which has helped several atheists flee death sentences from Muslim-majority countries, which are targeted by the ban. Just as the Constitution bars a religious test for public office, we believe it also bars a religious test for immigration or citizenship. We know that the ban precedent will ultimately be used against nonbelievers. Please use this opportunity to encourage your Congress members to support the No BAN Act.
Click on the red “Take Action!” link below and follow the prompt. Please feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
Photo By Eddie Hernandez Photography via Shutterstock
More »Please oppose Penn. ‘In God We Trust’ bill
The Pennsylvania Legislature is considering a bill providing for the display of “In God We Trust” in “classrooms and other areas in public school buildings.” We need your help to ensure that a captive audience of young, impressionable students aren’t forced to view a motto that falsely equates piety with patriotism.
This bill’s first hearing, in front of the House State Government Committee, will take place tomorrow, Tues., Sept. 24. Please contact the members of the committee and urge them to vote no on this unnecessary and divisive measure. If you are able, please attend the hearing and register in opposition of the bill. The meeting is at 9:00 a.m. in Room G50 of the Irvis Office Building in Harrisburg (part of the state capitol complex, this building is located at 450 Commonwealth Avenue).
While politicians claim that these laws are intended to showcase the national motto or inspire patriotism, it’s clear from the bill’s pandering language that their true purpose is to peddle religiosity to a captive audience. The bill approvingly notes that James Pollock, the director of the U.S. Mint who suggested putting the phrase on coins, was known as “The Great Christian Governor” when he was governor of Pennsylvania. This bill is about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, and dismantling the wall of separation between religion and government. The motto “In God We Trust” is inaccurate and exclusionary, and this bill is aimed at brainwashing American schoolchildren into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
The bill, HB 1602, is part of the nationwide legislative push, Project Blitz. Project Blitz seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious bills, imposing the theocratic version of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we cherish most about our democracy, and now must tirelessly defend.
Please click the red “Take Action!” link below and follow the prompt. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Thank Rep. Huffman for standing up to Christian Nationalism
Rep. Jared Huffman, co-chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, is under fire for standing up to Christian Nationalists — and he needs to hear your words of support.
On FFRF’s national television show “Freethought Matters” that aired last weekend, Huffman pointed out that requiring witnesses to recite “so help me God” during oaths unnecessarily entangles government with religion. Watch Huffman’s other superb remarks on “Freethought Matters.”
The Religious Right has jumped on this interview to mobilize its base and vilify Huffman. The Washington Examiner and Fox News are using FFRF’s interview with Huffman as an opportunity to attack him for his support of secular government.
Can you take a few minutes to thank Huffman for standing up for our community and for all Americans who support the separation of church and state? We need to defend our champions in Congress.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:
- If you live in Rep. Huffman’s district (2nd district - California), click here to email or call Huffman’s office in support of his appearance on Freethought Matters. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
- If you are from outside the district, please send your message to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will send it on to Rep. Huffman’s office.
- Thank Rep. Huffman on Facebook or Twitter.
TALKING POINTS
I want to thank you for bravely speaking out against Christian Nationalism and standing up for the secular community on FFRF’s TV show, “Freethought Matters.” We need more members of Congress who will champion the separation between religion and government, and we are grateful for your support and representation on Capitol Hill.
Urge Congress to pass the Do No Harm Act today
When it was passed into law nearly 30 years ago, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was purportedly intended to shield those with minority religious beliefs from the domination of the religious majority. Predictably, however, the Religious Right has hijacked this law as an unfettered license to discriminate on behalf of the majority religion.
We need your help in a national effort to restore true religious freedom. Please take action today to support the Do No Harm Act, a common-sense bill that limits the laws that RFRA applies to in order to ensure that religious liberty cannot be wielded as a weapon to discriminate.
For instance, RFRA would no longer allow believers to be exempt from the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Violence Against Women Act, laws that require employers to provide wages and other compensation, or laws that require coverage for any health care item. The Do No Harm Act, if enacted, could undo the damage caused by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision in 2014. That ruling allows employers and for-profit corporations to deny women workers contraceptive coverage on the basis of religious offense.
Religious freedom is already protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Do No Harm Act will bring us one step closer to restoring true equality, by preventing discrimination in the name of religious belief.
Please click on the red “Take Action!” link below and follow the prompt provided. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Take action against proposed rule allowing taxpayer funded religious discrimination
Yesterday, the Department of Labor published a new rule that would allow federal contractors to discriminate against employees based on “sincerely held religious tenets,” putting minority rights in immediate danger.
The proposed rule would allow religiously affiliated federal contractors to discriminate based on an applicant’s religious affiliation and also on whether the employee’s conduct is consistent with the employer’s religious beliefs. In other words, Chrisitan employers can refuse to hire Jews, Muslims and atheists, but Christian employers can also refuse to hire anyone they deem to be a “bad Christian.” This is codified taxpayer-funded discrimination based on religion.
This is particularly concerning for LGBTQ employees and applicants. Anti-gay employers have a long history of disingenuously arguing that they are not discriminating on the basis of someone’s sexual orientation, but only based on their “lifestyle” choices. Allowing religious employers to deny employment based on an employee’s conduct also opens the door to many other forms of discrimination, such as against single mothers/parents, atheists and those of a minority religion.
Nearly one-quarter of employees in the United States work for an employer that has a contract with the federal government. This proposed rule is a dangerous and unconscionable attack on secular and civil rights. Please join FFRF in denouncing this proposed rule. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below. You will be taken to the regulations.gov comment page. Click on the blue button in the upper right corner that reads “Comment Now!” and fill out the prompt provided. It just takes a minute or two for your voice to be heard.
TALKING POINTS
Please feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided
I strongly oppose the proposed rule changes to OFCCP policy that would allow federal contractors to discriminate against employees based on religious affiliation and also based on whether the employee’s conduct is consistent with the employer’s religious beliefs. This is unconscionable taxpayer-funded discrimination that will put civil rights for vulnerable populations at risk. The Labor Department instead should adopt rules that will protect employees who have a history of suffering discrimination, rather than legalizing such discrimination.
More »Oppose new HHS rules eliminating civil rights protections in health care
In June, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed sweeping rollbacks on non-discrimination regulations under the Affordable Care Act, including those protecting abortion care and LGBTQ patients.
This rule would amend Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age and disability. It is the first civil rights law to prohibit discrimination in health care based on sex. If finalized, the proposed changes, among other things, would:
- Adopt broad “religious freedom” exemptions for health care providers, allowing licensed professionals to deny care based on their personal religious beliefs.
- Allow discrimination based on gender identity and allow health insurance companies to deny coverage to LGBTQ patients.
Dozens of major public health organizations, including the American Medical Association, have denounced these rule changes and advised that the health and well-being of patients would unequivocally be jeopardized by this regressive proposal.
The public comment period on these HHS rules is open until Tuesday, Aug. 13. Please join FFRF in opposing dangerous religious exemptions for health care professionals and the elimination of civil rights protections for LGBTQ people. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below. You will be taken to the regulations.gov comment page. Click on the blue button in the upper right corner that reads “Comment Now!” and fill out the prompt provided. It just takes a minute or two for your voice to be heard.
TALKING POINTS
Please feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Unfortunately, this cannot be automated since it is an official government page.
I strongly oppose the proposed changes to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, a section that ensures civil rights protections for vulnerable populations in the health care system. I am particularly concerned about the sweeping religious exemptions for medical professionals, allowing for discrimination based on personal religious beliefs that would endanger abortion and LGBTQ patient care. The proposed rule changes will exacerbate existing inequalities by emboldening health care providers to deny care based on their religious beliefs. This is unacceptable.
More »Urge your U.S. Rep. to support repeal of international blasphemy laws
This week, Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., introduced in a bipartisan initiative House Resolution 512, a renewed effort calling for “the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy and apostasy laws.” The resolution specifically notes that “secularists” are frequent victims of such laws.
Blasphemy laws are still astonishingly common. More than 70 countries across many regions maintain these archaic rules, punishable by life imprisonment and death, as well as often violent extrajudicial retribution from other citizens. As FFRF has long pointed out, blasphemy is a victimless crime, but blasphemy laws create many innocent victims.
Please urge your representative to support this resolution in the interest of protecting religious minorities and freethinkers worldwide. Promoting secularism and the right to speak critically of religion is a universal win for freedom of speech and religious liberty. Click on the red ‘Take Action’ button below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Tell New Philadelphia Schools to hold firm on removal of 10 Commandments display
Last week, New Philadelphia City Schools in Ohio removed a Ten Commandment plaque from Welty Middle School after FFRF lodged a complaint against the unconstitutional religious display. Districts commonly receive negative pushback from discontented community members after they take down religious paraphernalia in compliance with the First Amendment.
Today, evangelist Franklin Graham took to social media to condemn the decision and to leverage his millions of followers across the country to bully the district into putting the plaque back up on school property.
It is important that secular Americans provide a counterweight to this criticism and commend the district for rectifying this violation. Please contact New Philadelphia Superintendent David Brand to show your support for the removal of the religious plaque.
Click here to send an e-mail to the superintendent.
TALKING POINTS
Please feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided below
I want to thank you for removing the Ten Commandments plaque from Welty Middle School and protecting the true religious freedom of all students and families in the district. This decision was the right one, and I encourage you to hold firm and keep the plaque off of school property.
More »Support vaccination expansion for minors in D.C.!
The Council of the District of Columbia is considering a good bill that would allow minors of any age to consent to vaccinations that are recommended by the United States Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
This bill, B23-0171, also establishes conditions for demonstrating informed consent including “comprehension of the need for, the nature of, and any significant risks inherent in the medical care.” This would allow minors who can demonstrate informed consent of vaccines to access their desired health care without consent from their parents.
Children are getting caught in the crosshairs of often religiously based, anti-science rhetoric surrounding immunizations and are one of the most vulnerable populations to illnesses preventable by vaccines. This bill would be a positive step in allowing young people to get vaccinated and challenge the onslaught of anti-vaxxer propaganda, which has led to devastating health outcomes in the last several months.
Please urge the D.C. Council to vote yes on B23-0171. Ways to get involved:
1. Attend the public hearing on this measure this Wednesday, June 26, at 11 a.m. at the John A. Wilson Building, Room 500 (1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.) Make sure to register in support of the bill.
2. Click on the red “Take Action!” button below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
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