The Freedom From Religion Foundation strongly supports President Biden’s announcement of a sweeping vaccine mandate, a move that will reportedly affect as many as 100 million Americans.

The state/church watchdog celebrates this triumph of reason over the cacophony of unscientific anti-vaxx noise throughout the country. Eligible Americans refusing to get vaccinated has led to another major Covid surge that was entirely preventable.

Thanks to modern science, we have vaccines that we know are safe and effective. For the well-being of those who cannot get vaccinated, including young children, as well as for overworked health care workers, it is imperative for the federal government to require as many eligible Americans to get vaccinated as it is legally able to.

Unfortunately, Biden’s order will allow those under the mandate to apply for a religious exception to the requirement.

“Religious vaccine exemptions are morally and legally wrong,” points out FFRF Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel. “Vaccine refusal isn’t a matter of religious freedom because religious freedom does not include a right to harm others, risk other people’s lives, or spread a lethal virus.”

FFRF is based in Madison, Wis., and has recently pushed for vaccine and mask requirements by the local government, university and school board. Biden’s declaration will help those entities — as well as numerous others around the country — make the right choice.

It is past time for Americans to listen to science and reason.

Image via Shutterstock by BiksuTong

By Dan Barker

Editor’s Note: For the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is repurposing a column from its Freethought Today newspaper that FFRF Co-President Dan Barker wrote in the immediate aftermath of the horror and that remains as relevant today.

Would you buy a used car from a guy wearing a button that says, “‘I’m an Honest Salesman”?

That’s how I feel about those T-shirts that say, “Proud to be an American.” If you are truly honest, or truly American, you don’t need such fanfare — displays that actually raise the possibility of the opposite — because well, of course, you’re honest, and, of course, you’re proud to be an American. Why bring it up?

They must be bringing it up because they are insecure. Our country has been attacked, many feel afraid and vulnerable, so they wave flags, recite the Pledge and pray “God Bless America.” This feels like brave action, but it is only an illusion that masks feelings of helplessness.

Many of us love this country without the fanfare. My family, like many millions of good Americans, does not believe in God, so we could never honestly say “In God We Trust” or recite the religious Pledge of Allegiance in good conscience, even if we did want to jump on the jingoistic bandwagon.

Where did this doctrine of “unification” come from? What do we think will happen if Americans are not united? America never will be unified, and that’s what we should be proud of. The original motto of the United States, chosen by the nation’s Founders, is “E Pluribus Unum” (“From many, one”), not the 1956 “In God We Trust” nervously adopted during the Cold War against “godless communism.”

“E Pluribus Unum” does not mean “United, we stand.” It means “Divided, we stand.” We are divided into 50 different state governments. We are divided into multiple religious, philosophical, cultural and political factions — yet we stand as a nation. We don’t have to agree. We should wear our disagreements as a badge of honor.

Our Founders were fiercely divided on most issues. James Madison vehemently argued against congressional chaplains. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, also wrote that the words of Jesus were a “dunghill.” Benjamin Franklin called for prayers at the Constitutional Convention, but only mustered interest from three or four delegates — so they said no prayers. Nor did they pledge allegiance to a flag or hold hands singing “God Bless America.”

Yet they manufactured a country that stands as a single nation, in spite of their differences. They never wanted to force unity of thought.

Americans who don’t believe in the foisted motto “In God We Trust” are just as patriotic and just as American as those who do.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is running a full-page ad in Sunday’s New York Times asking people to counter the religiously inspired war on women’s rights.

The advertisement features a sketch of a “handmaid” in a reference to Margaret Atwood’s classic. “Roe v. Wade is in grave peril,” it warns.

The ad spotlights the recent egregious Texas abortion prohibition — and the U.S. Supreme Court’s nod to the anti-women measure.

“The Supreme Court majority ominously signaled its stunning hostility to reproductive rights by cruelly refusing to block the draconian ban on abortion in Texas,” it states. “It has also agreed to review an unconstitutional Mississippi ban.”

And the ad puts the national anti-abortion campaign in the full context.

“Emboldened Christian nationalists in state governments have ramped up their relentless, religiously motivated war on abortion,” it cautions. “Our federal judiciary has been stacked with Trump-appointed extremists.”

The ad calls on New York Times readers to mobilize in defense of secular values.

“Join FFRF in defending the treasured constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and in our call for court reform,” it concludes. “Support FFRF in our vital work for emancipation from religious dogma.”

FFRF is placing the advertisement in the country’s most prominent paper because it is deeply concerned about the state of women’s rights in the country.

“Things haven’t been this dire in a long time,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “‘Freethinkers need to come together to uphold the Constitution.”

The educational ad was made possible thanks to the generosity of FFRF members donating to FFRF’s Advertising Fund.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 35,000 members across the country. FFRF protects the constitutional separation between state and church and educates about nontheism.

Abortion rights in the United States are in peril.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court shockingly refused to block a six-week Texas abortion ban and abortion bounty provision. And now, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has issued an executive order to limit abortion access in her state. Specifically, the directive prohibits the use of telemedicine for obtaining abortion medication. It also severely restricts abortion medication as a procedure.

Noem is no stranger to anti-abortion legislation. When previously signing such bills, she has clung to her faith, stating in one instance: “God created each of us and endowed all of us with the right to life.”

Noem should prioritize women’s health care by expanding reproductive care options — not banning them. If she had focused on evidence-based medicine, as health care laws in a secular nation should do, the governor wouldn’t have ordered this new abortion restriction. Medication abortion, which was first approved by the FDA in 2000, is a safe and effective way to terminate a pregnancy. Fewer than 0.4 percent of patients develop serious complications.

Abortion medication also democratizes abortion care. When available via mail or pharmacy, it can defray costs, anywhere from $500-$3,000, associated with transportation, child care and work arrangements. Indeed, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a group of 58,000 members, released a statement declaring that abortion medication is safe and that it provides a “significant benefit” to patients.

South Dakota, an abortion-hostile state, only has one abortion clinic, creating an abortion desert for its nearly 500,000 women. For the first seven months of the pandemic, abortions in South Dakota were halted. As a consequence, some women in the state turned to potentially dangerous alternatives to terminate their pregnancies, according to abortion-rights advocates.

Abortion restrictions are not evidence-based nor do they protect women’s welfare and health. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has submitted a formal congressional testimony in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would end these medically unnecessary laws. We urge you to stand up for science and ask your member of Congress to support this crucial bill.

Gov. Noem’s anti-women and anti-science move yet again shows the need for the congressional measure.

Photo by Matt Johnson under CC BY 2.0

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is prodding a Tennessee county to be more inclusive.

Many Williamson County residents have in recent years called for the retirement of the existing county seal due to the Confederate battle flag displayed inside the top left of the seal. The county voted to remove the flag in October of last year but the change requires approval by the Tennessee Historical Commission, which has yet to vote on this issue. There is another problem with the current seal, however, as a county resident has informed the state/church watchdog: It includes a bible and church window, which appears to also be a Latin cross representing Christianity.

Christian religious imagery on the official Williamson County seal violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, FFRF emphasizes.

“The seal signals an endorsement of Christianity,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line has written to the Williamson County Board of Commissioners. “This ‘sends a message to nonadherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community,’” to quote the U.S. Supreme Court.

Federal courts have ruled that religious symbols on official city logos or representations violate the Establishment Clause, FFRF adds. The Williamson County seal design is akin to numerous other unconstitutional municipal representations.

And regardless of the unconstitutionality of the seal, the county should remove exclusionary religious images from its official representations as a matter of policy, just as with the exclusionary Confederate flag image. Nearly 30 percent of adults in the U.S. are non-Christian and 24 percent practice no religion at all. By remaining neutral on matters of religion, the county would embrace the diversity of its citizens, including non-Christian religious citizens and citizens who are nonreligious.

FFRF’s arguments seem to have found receptive ears.

“If the decision made by the Tennessee Historical Commission permits alteration of the seal, Williamson County’s Commission will then consider whether to alter parts of the seal, redesign the seal in its entirety, or retire the seal,” the county’s legal counsel has recently replied. “It is not our intention for any portion of our seal to exclude any citizen or to favor any one segment of our citizenry over another. When we are in a position to consider all of our options with regard to the seal, we will give careful and serious attention to the issues raised in your letter, along with all other relevant matters, in making our final determination.”

FFRF appreciates the positive response.

“We realize that there is a formal process for a redesigned seal to be approved,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “The county’s reply makes us hopeful, though, that the new seal will be truly inclusive of all Williamson County residents.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 35,000 members and several chapters across the country, including over 400 members and a chapter in Tennessee. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

An intellectual giant is the interview guest this Sunday on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” TV show.

The famed evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is well known for his international blockbuster, The God Delusion. And you are probably aware of Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene, in which he coined the word meme and which was voted by a Royal Society poll to be the most inspirational, influential science book of all time. His other books include The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, The Ancestor’s Tale and a two-volume memoir of a life in science. He now has a new work published: Books Do Furnish a Life: Reading and Writing Science.

“When it is such an exciting fact that we can explain things, to paper that over with a pseudoexplanation, a false explanation of a divine intelligence, a divine creator is just so sad,” Dawkins tells “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor.

The episode will be airing in over a dozen cities on Sunday, Sept. 12. If you don’t live in the quarter-plus of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on the “Freethought Matters” playlist on FFRF’s YouTube channel. New shows go up every Thursday. You can also receive notifications when we post new episodes of “Freethought Matters” by subscribing to FFRF’s YouTube channel. 

Coming shows this season include interviews with The Nation’s Katha Pollitt, Professor Ryan Burge — a leading expert in the rise of the “Nones” — Jay Rosenstein, the maker of a Peabody Award-winning documentary on the Supreme Court’s first public school religion case, and Candace R.M. Gorham, author of the upcoming book, On Death, Dying, and Disbelief.

“Freethought Matters” airs in:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KIAH-CW (Ch. 39), Sundays at 11 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.

“Freethought Matters” had an array of impressive guests last season. These included: pundit Eleanor Clift, actor and FFRF After-Life Member John de Lancie of “Star Trek” “Q” fame, Professor Steven Pinker, one of the most eminent global public intellectuals, and A.C. Grayling, a prominent British philosopher and the author of about 30 books, who grappled on the show with philosophy and the pandemic. The show launched its new season last Sunday with clips from the best past interviews on the program.

Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!

Amid the nasty anti-abortion moves that have been occurring globally, there is some good news that the Freedom From Religion Foundation is cheering.

On Sept. 8, Mexico’s high court delivered a unanimous ruling stating that it is unconstitutional to criminalize abortion in the country. This is significant because it nullifies criminalization laws for abortion in Coahuila, a Mexican state on the Texas border. The court president, Arturo Zaldívar, announced: “From now on you will not be able to, without violating the court’s criteria and the Constitution, charge any woman who aborts under the circumstances this court has ruled as valid.”

This is groundbreaking for women in Mexico, since 28 states currently penalize abortion with some exceptions and only four states allow abortion in most circumstances. Additionally, there are 4,600 open investigations to imprison women for abortions. FFRF applauds this ruling and hopes that Mexico will continue to prioritize women’s health care.

The country is heavily Roman Catholic. While there is no official religion, 80 percent of the population identifies as Catholic and many Mexicans see Catholicism as a fundamental part of their identity. The Catholic Church is a stalwart opponent of abortion rights and has repeatedly maneuvered to get abortion outlawed in Mexico. For example, in 2007, the Catholic Church in Mexico City gathered 32,000 signatures in the hopes of banning abortion. Additionally, the Church has threatened to excommunicate abortion-rights legislators.

Consequently, public approval for abortion rights in Mexico is only 48 percent, although this has steadily climbed. Indeed, many people were seen praying outside the Supreme Court when it handed down its pro-women judgment. Nevertheless, the work of Mexican women’s rights groups — as well as science and secular values — has prevailed with the Supreme Court’s decision.

Meanwhile, right across the border in Texas, abortion has been outlawed after six weeks of gestation and people can be paid $10,000 for successfully suing providers and individuals who help women obtain an abortion. As secular voters in the United States, we can look to Mexico as a source of inspiration. We need to ask our legislators to support the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would render the Texas abortion ban (as well as any other medically unnecessary abortion restriction in the United States), illegal.

The pushback against anti-abortion and anti-women tendencies needs to spread further into North America.

Photo via Shutterstock by Alejandro_Munoz

Keep State & Church Separate

If you're as alarmed as "unabashed atheist" Ron Reagan by the intrusion of religion into our secular government please join the Freedom From Religion Foundation. FFRF is the nation’s largest and most effective association of atheists and agnostics, working to keep state and church separate, just like our Founders intended.

A fresh version of an iconic Freedom From Religion Foundation ad featuring Ron Reagan is set to premier on Rachel Maddow’s and Stephen Colbert’s highly watched shows.

The updated spot, in which the “unabashed atheist” is still notably “not afraid of burning in hell,” will debut on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.” The ad is slated to run six times, starting Tuesday, Sept. 7, through Thursday, Sept. 9, and then from Tuesday, Sept. 14, through Thursday, Sept. 16.

The new 30-second spot will also appear six times on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” on CBS nationally, from Tuesday, Sept. 20, through Thursday, Sept. 22, and the week after from Tuesday, Sept. 28, through Thursday, Sept. 30.

This year is the first year that the CBS national network has accepted the ad.

In the updated TV spot, Reagan, a former ballet dancer, is still seated on stage in an empty auditorium — but the new ad is more colorful, with added technical pizzaz and a few minor modifications. Reagan’s memorable lines still sing:

Hi, I’m Ron Reagan, an unabashed atheist, and I’m alarmed, as you may be, by the intrusion of religion into our secular government. That's why I’m asking you to join the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the nation’s largest and most effective association of atheists and agnostics, working to keep state and church separate, just like our Founders intended. Please join the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Ron Reagan, lifelong atheist, not afraid of burning in hell.

Ron also recorded a more intimate 50-second digital spot reflecting on what’s changed since he first recorded the spot in 2014. Watch here.

Reagan, who is the son of President Reagan and Nancy Reagan, has spoken on FFRF’s “Freethought Matters” TV show about why he stopped attending church as a 12-year-old and what happened when he told his father. He has received FFRF’s Emperor Has No Clothes Award for his outspoken, life-long identification as an atheist and advocate of the separation between religion and government.

After FFRF aired the ad during several Democratic presidential debates carried by CNN in 2019, Reagan was credited with “winning” and becoming the top trending search on Google.

“We are so grateful to Ron for continuing to lend his celebrity to the Freedom From Religion Foundation,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “Everywhere we go, including in Congress, the public now recognizes FFRF, thanks to Ron, and realizes there are many atheists and freethinkers in America, including the son of a conservative president.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 35,000 members across the country. FFRF protects the constitutional separation between state and church and educates about nontheism. FFRF advertising is made possible by kind contributions from members. Donations to FFRF are deductible for income-tax purposes.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” TV show launches its new season this Sunday with delightful clips from the best past interviews on the program.

You will watch engaging exchanges with an impressive array of names, including philosopher Daniel Dennett, entertainer John Davidson, women’s rights fighter Cecile Richards, atheist icon Ron Reagan, performer Julia Sweeney, U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman and Eleanor Holmes Norton and, above all, the late Ed “Lou Grant” Asner, who is seen serenading FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

If you don’t live in the quarter-plus of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on the “Freethought Matters” playlist on FFRF’s YouTube Channel.  New shows go up every Thursday. You can also receive notifications when we post new episodes of "Freethought Matters" by subscribing to FFRF's YouTube channel. The episode will be airing in over a dozen cities on Sunday, Sept. 5.

Coming shows this season include interviews with Richard Dawkins, The Nation’s Katha Pollitt, Professor Ryan Burge — a leading expert in the rise of the “Nones” — Jay Rosenstein, the maker of a Peabody Award-winning documentary on the Supreme Court’s first public school religion case, and Candace R.M. Gorham, author of the upcoming book, On Death, Dying, and Disbelief.

“Freethought Matters” airs in:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KIAH-CW (Ch. 39), Sundays at 11 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.

“Freethought Matters” had an array of impressive guests last season. These included: pundit Eleanor Clift, actor and FFRF After-Life Member John de Lancie of “Star Trek” “Q” fame, Professor Steven Pinker, one of the most eminent global public intellectuals, and A.C. Grayling, a prominent British philosopher and the author of about 30 books, who grappled on the show with philosophy and the pandemic.

Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!

Millions of Texans woke up today in a state where abortion not only suddenly became illegal, but where they can be sued for performing an abortion or assisting a loved one in obtaining an abortion. This “Handmaid’s Tale” situation is due to the Supreme Court’s deliberate refusal to block an unconstitutional law. 

What makes the court’s inaction all the more culpable and shocking is its recent record of privileging religion in shadow docket cases. The court in the past year has ruled in favor of every religious group suing under emergency motions seeking special treatment in the past year, while the vast majority of emergency applications were otherwise denied, according to a Reuters study.

The Texas law going in effect today bans abortion procedures after six weeks of gestation — before most women even know that they are pregnant. Alarmingly, as noted, the law deputizes private citizens to file civil suits against abortion providers or anyone who assists someone in obtaining an abortion. As a reward for “turning in” these offenders, such citizen deputies will receive $10,000 and attorneys’ fees for a successful lawsuit.

This Texas abortion ban is the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the country and dismantles the foundation of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion until fetal viability (around 24-26 weeks of gestation). The Supreme Court has previously acknowledged that medical determination is different for each pregnancy even in cases of later term abortions.

Disquietingly and cavalierly, the Supreme Court opted not to respond to emergency motions filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Center of Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America to block this law, after the ultraconservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused to block enforcement of the law, thereby undoing nearly 50 years of precedent. The high court’s unconscionable inaction will embolden other hostile states to use this Texas anti-abortion bounty law as a blueprint.

The Texas abortion ban is rooted in religious faith that a human being begins with “ensoulment” at conception. Texas Right to Life, the Christian, anti-abortion group instrumental in the crafting of this legislation, describes itself as a group that “legally, peacefully and prayerfully protects the God-given Right to Life of innocent human beings from fertilization to natural death.” After this anti-abortion bill went into effect, the group tweeted “God Bless Texas.” When Gov. Greg Abbott signed the anti-abortion law, he commented, “Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion.”

Because of this religious imposition, Texas women will have to travel lengthy distances at exhorbitant prices, exacerbating the already severe economic inequalities affecting low-income women seeking abortion care.

The Supreme Court is slated to soon hear a major anti-abortion challenge to Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerns a Mississippi statute that bans most abortion care after 15 weeks of gestation. Given the court’s cruel silence on this Texas abortion ban, as well as its ultraconservative composition — including the replacement of pro-choice Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Amy Coney Barrett, a staunch anti-abortion Catholic conservative — the bans in Mississippi and Texas appear to be only the beginning of the onslaught of anti-abortion legislation.

Abortion is a safe medical procedure with a complication rate of less than a quarter of 1 percent. (For context, this is safer than wisdom teeth removals.) Abortion restrictions like the Texas law imperil women’s physical and emotional safety by forcing them to carry unwanted pregnancies to term or delaying early abortion care when it is the safest and most affordable.

That is why it is crucial to ask Congress to pass the federal Women’s Health Protection Act, which would protect the right to abortion care throughout the United States. Additionally, it would eliminate medically unnecessary and burdensome restrictions like this egregious abortion ban in Texas. Please contact your legislators today and ask them to stand up for science and reproductive rights.

Even more important, we must expand and reform our packed federal judiciary immediately. Donald Trump invited the right-wing Federalist Society to seize control of the nation’s courts during his presidency. Without court reform, the constitutional right of privacy encompassing the right to contraception and abortion care will fall. So will enforcement of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which so wisely and necessarily separates religious dogma from government.

Yet again, the country has been rocked by unwelcome news about the U.S. Supreme Court and abortion rights. FFRF Director of Strategic Response Andrew L. Seidel hammers the court’s abrogation of its sworn duty in a new op-ed.

Religion Dispatches has published Seidel’s latest piece, “Goodbye Roe, hello violence and an out-of-control judiciary,” in which he is pulling no punches:

The Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to health care, and effectively overturned Roe v. Wade, by doing nothing. Using the shadow docket, Justice Samuel Alito allowed a draconian dystopian misogynistic law to rob Texans of a basic constitutional right: bodily autonomy. The Texas law bans abortion when a heartbeat is detected, after about six weeks, long before most people know they’re pregnant, and establishes a truly dangerous bounty system that allows private citizens to sue anybody involved in procuring an abortion and rewards them with $10,000 and attorneys fees. There are no exceptions for rape or incest and the law will have little impact on the wealthy, who can simply fly to freer places. As always, this law will not stop abortions, it will only stop safe abortions.

This bounty system will choke the courts and drown abortion providers in lawsuits, which is the real point. If you thought evangelical churches were good at getting out the vote, wait until you see what havoc they wreak with this (preview). The bounties are nothing short of dystopian, more reminiscent of the morality police in Iran or the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. When paired with our politically divided country and Texas’ new unlicensed open carry law that also took effect today, it’s a recipe for violence, which has already plagued abortion providers. Now their supporters feel like they have a license to hunt (which is not what the law says) and also happen to believe God is on their side. What could possibly go wrong? It’s tempting to say that they learned nothing from the violence on Jan. 6th, but that assumes that the lesson would be peaceful. They learned a different lesson.

The Constitution was subverted with judicial inaction. That’s how broken our courts are. This was only possible because the 5th Circuit is overrun with Trump judges. Captured, infested, overwhelmed — packed. The Supreme Court was only able to gut Roe by sitting on its hands because the 5th Circuit allowed a clearly unconstitutional law — a law that was deliberately unconstitutional — to go into effect. It overruled a lower court judge and cancelled judicial hearings on the law so that it could go into effect and rob Americans of their rights. This is what judicial activism looks like. It was a wanton disregard for the law and their sworn oath.

Seidel compares the court’s shadow docket dereliction here with its eagerness in religious freedom cases. He also cautions people about looking for solutions without addressing court reform. “This is existential,” he explains.

Please read the piece on Religion Dispatches and then share it on your social media so that people are aware of just how much is at stake and how we can solve the problem. Then start calling your senators.

It is vital that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito block a new Texas law going into effect tomorrow that bans most abortions and sets up a citizen “bounty” to incentivize individuals for enforcement.

The court should either block the law or allow the lower court to resume its hearing on the law, which was scheduled for Monday, Aug. 30, but was cancelled by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Access to safe, legal abortions in Texas is under immediate peril under the new law, which would effectively ban abortions by the sixth week of pregnancy, before most women know they are pregnant. Worse still, the law seeks to turn Texas residents against one another by “deputizing” citizens to enforce the law, offering them a $10,000 bounty for every offender they turn in. It is designed to intimidate abortion care providers by strapping them with ruinous financial penalties and legal costs.

The law not only denies pregnant people their constitutional right to an abortion, but also favors religious ideology over evidence-based medicine. The anti-abortion group, Texas Right to Life, which was instrumental in drafting the law, describes itself as one that “legally, peacefully and prayerfully protects the God-given Right to Life of innocent human beings from fertilization to natural death.”

Ordinarily, such an egregiously unconstitutional law would be swiftly enjoined by a federal court, since it flies in the face of Roe v. Wade and decades of precedent since. However, the 5th Circuit has refused to block the law, forcing reproductive rights advocates to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for emergency relief. A panel of conservative judges on the circuit court paused all proceedings in the lower court. The decision now lies with Alito, who handles such petitions in Texas.

Alito, unfortunately, is part of a majority of the Supreme Court that appears to be on course to dismantle reproductive health care. If Alito fails to accept this emergency petition, it will show that the personal, religiously motivated anti-abortion beliefs of judges are more important than upholding long-standing precedent. If the personal beliefs of justices take precedence over legal precedent, that will likely doom for Roe v. Wade, either by the court explicitly overturning Roe or by gutting it and allowing laws like the Texas “abortion bounty” to stand. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear in its upcoming term Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case out of Mississippi designed specifically for the purpose of gradually eviscerating Roe.

When Gov. Greg Abbott signed the anti-abortion law, he commented that “Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion.” These comments are religious in nature and do not reflect science. Indeed, there is no scientific or medical reason to ban abortions. Major complications from abortions form less than a quarter of 1 percent of total procedures. Additionally, 99 percent of women do not regret their abortion. Instead, they feel relief.

Abortion restrictions and barriers cause harm and contribute to poor maternal health outcomes. In fact, maternal mortality in the United States grew by 136 percent between 1990 and 2013 after rampant abortion restrictions. Medical science shows that abortion is fundamental to comprehensive reproductive health care.

As other hostile abortion states will undoubtedly use the Texas law as a blueprint, it is more important than ever for Congress to pass the federal Women’s Health Protection Act. This would protect the right to abortion care in all 50 states and eliminate medically unnecessary and burdensome restrictions like the draconian ban passed in Texas.

It is a dismaying state of affairs that Samuel Alito is the last bastion of hope for reproductive rights in America right now. The U.S. Senate is to blame for allowing the right-wing Federalist Society, with its Christian nationalist and extremist litmus tests, to seize control of the nation’s top court over the past five years. The massively overworked and unbalanced federal courts must be immediately expanded and rebalanced. Otherwise, America will see the pillars of reproductive health care fall like dominos — precedent be damned.