On Monday, Americans United filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Real Alternatives v. Burwell— yet another challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employers who provide health insurance to employees must include contraception coverage.
Faith Leaders Against Political Islamophobia: AU Reports Back From Interfaith Summit
DNC Round-Up: Democrats Offer Alternative Vision Of Religious Freedom
Mississippi Governor And Religious Right Group Fighting To Enforce "Religious Liberty" Law
God and Government In Indiana: Lessons From An Evening Of Civil Discourse
Ninth Circuit Agrees: Hospital Pension Plans Are Not “Church Plans”
Three circuit courts have now determined that religious healthcare systems cannot qualify for church retirement plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This means that employee pensions from religiously affiliated hospitals will be protected from organizations that attempt to shirk the law.
Mountaineer Muddle: West Virginia Legislators Contemplate Discriminatory Bills
Just months after the West Virginia Senate voted down the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) bill, Mountain State lawmakers are talking about resurrecting it in the next legislative session.
Masterpiece Cakeshop Now Seeks Supreme Court Review
After the Colorado Supreme Court refused to hear his “religious-freedom” challenge to the state’s nondiscrimination ordinance, a cake shop owner has filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court
NBA Pulls All-Star Game From North Carolina Over "Bathroom Law"
What do Bruce Springsteen, 13 conventions, and the 2017 NBA All-Star Game have in common? None of them will be hosted in North Carolina as long as the state's infamous "bathroom law" is still on the books.
Cruz Control?: Texas Senator Says Religious Freedom Protects Atheists, Muslims
Former AU Law Clerk Explains Personal Side Of Supreme Court's Non-Decision In Zubik
In an editorial published in Rewire, former Americans United law clerk Alison Tanner stressed that the Supreme Court's non-decision in Zubik v. Burwell leaves thousands of students like her in healthcare limbo.
Netroots Nation Conference Connects Protect Thy Neighbor With Social Justice Activists Nationwide
A False Narrative: Phony Claims Of ‘Religious Persecution’ Are Offensive
FRC’s FADA Fade Away
Governor Mike Pence and the RFRA Debacle
After Gov. Pence signed SB 101 into law, businesses and prominent Hoosiers took a stand against it: the NCAA, CEOs, NASCAR, law professors, healthcare providers, musicians, authors, performers, athletes, conventions, and entire states announced criticism and even boycotts of the state.
Whose Conscience Matters?: Not Yours, According To This New Bill
Read Our First Amendment Defense Act House Committee Hearing Storify!
Ann Doe Allowed To Participate In Notre Dame Contraception Case
Yesterday afternoon, the Seventh Circuit allowed Ann Doe, a student at the University of Notre Dame, to participate in the university’s lawsuit against the government, challenging provisions of the Affordable Care Act. If Notre Dame is successful in the case, it will deprive the university’s students, faculty, and staff of health insurance that covers contraception.
Bogus Defense: U.S. House Holds Hearing On Bill That Would Violate First Amendment and Harm LGBT Persons
Tuesday was the one-month anniversary of the shooting at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando that killed 49 people. This has been a difficult month for the LGBT community, yet on the anniversary, House Republicans held a hearing on a bill aimed at allowing discrimination against same-sex couples and their families in the name of “religious freedom.”
A 1-2 Punch: Congress Tries to Turn Back Civil Rights
Image by Bryancalabro
In 2014, the District of Columbia adopted the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act. The RHNDAA protects District employees and their dependents from discrimination based on their personal reproductive healthcare decisions, including for example, whether to use birth control or to treat infertility with IVF. It ensures that employees and their families can make their own private health decisions, including whether, when, and how to start a family and what the size of their family should be, without fear of losing their jobs or facing retribution from their employers. At heart, the RHNDAA is about simple fairness. People should be judged at work based on their performance, not on their personal, private reproductive healthcare decisions.
Unfortunately, since its passage, Congress has sought to undo this non-discrimination law, often invoking religious liberty concerns. Contrary to opponents’ claims, however, the RHNDAA does not violate religious freedom protections. Religious freedom is a fundamental American value. It guarantees us the freedom to hold any belief we choose without government interference. It cannot, however, be used to trump others’ civil rights, and it should not justify striking down laws that ensure people are treated fairly.
The District of Columbia and Congress have a complicated relationship. Members of Congress can interfere with D.C.’s local laws even though they are not accountable to the residents of the District. Bills passed by the D.C. Council are subject to a thirty-day congressional review, and during that period, Congress can pass a “resolution of disapproval” to nullify the law.
Congress’ first attempted to stop RHNDAA last year through a “resolution of disapproval.” Reproductive rights, LGBT, religious liberty, and faith groups—including AU, joined forces to strongly oppose the resolution. We all recognized it for what it was, another attempt to use religion as an excuse to discriminate. The House passed the resolution, 228-192; the Senate didn’t debate it, recognizing that the District should be able to make its own decisions about how to protect its residents from discrimination.
But you know the old adage—if at first you don’t succeed ….
Last week, Congress tried a new tactic. Since Congress has control over a portion of the purse of the District, it has the power to prohibit the city from spending money on its own programs. So Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) (note he represents Alabama and not D.C.) offered an amendment to the bill that funds a part of DC’s budget that would prohibit the District from using any funds to enforce this law—essentially making the law null and void. The amendment passed 223-192. Americans United strongly opposed this amendment.
It’s now up to the Senate—and horse-trading in the upcoming negotiations on funding for the entire U.S. government—to see if Congress will curtail civil rights in the District. We’ll be watching.