Liz Hayes
Associate Vice President of Communications
[email protected]
Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser denounced the Alabama Supreme Court IVF decision that imposes on all Alabamians a policy rooted in religious theology about the origins of life.
Americans United joined nearly 240 reproductive rights, civil rights, religious and other social justice organizations in an amicus brief to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to protect access to mifepristone, a safe and effective drug used in medication abortions and miscarriage management.
Americans United denounced "School Choice Week" as a farce. We should spend this week celebrating public schools, not promoting private school voucher schemes that only provide ‘choice’ for a select few, primarily wealthy families whose children never attended public schools in the first place, and for the private, predominantly religious schools that can pick and choose which students to accept.
Americans United applauded today’s announcement that abortion advocates will proceed with efforts to ensure Missouri voters have the opportunity to enshrine abortion rights in the Missouri Constitution through a ballot initiative later this year.
Americans United applauded the Biden administration for largely rescinding the Trump-era Denial of Care Rule, which invited health care workers to deny medical treatment and services to patients because of personal religious or moral beliefs.
In response to the Supreme Court agreeing to hear the case challenging the FDA's approval of mifepristone, a safe and effective drug used in medication abortions and miscarriage management, AU's Rachel Laser warned of the extremist agenda being pushed in the case by a Shadow Network of Christian Nationalist groups.
Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, acknowledged the death of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the court. While O'Connor's record on church-state separation was mixed overall, she clearly understood the vital role religious freedom plays in America and how separation protects it, and became increasingly supportive of church-state separation during the latter years of her tenure.
A group of fourteen clergy members of different faiths were in St. Louis City Court for a crucial hearing in the case of Rev. Traci Blackmon v. State of Missouri, which argues Missouri’s abortion ban violates the state's commitment to the separation of church and state.
Under a ruling issued yesterday by the U.S. District Court in Colorado, Mark Janny, an atheist whose parole officer sent him back to jail for refusing to take part in religious worship and activities, can proceed to trial on his claims for certain kinds of damages, including punitive damages, against the parole officer.
A group of faith leaders, public-education advocates, and public-school parents – who are among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed on July 31, 2023, to stop Oklahoma from sponsoring and funding the nation’s first religious public charter school – are seeking to join a similar lawsuit recently filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
The Do No Harm Act will help ensure that our laws are a shield to protect religious freedom and not used as a sword to harm others by undermining civil rights laws and denying access to health care.
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