December 8, 2021 – Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser issued the following statement in response to today’s oral arguments before the Supreme Court in Carson v. Makin: Today’s oral arguments in Carson v. Makin revealed that the Court’s conservative justices may be poised to turn America’s foundational […]
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
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Americans United Applauds U.S. Sen. Booker’s Introduction Of Do No Harm Act – A Bill To Uphold Religious Freedom
Americans United for Separation of Church and State applauds U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) for re-introducing the Do No Harm Act today in the U.S. Senate. This critical bill will preserve the Religious Freedom Restoration Act’s power to protect religious freedom, while also clarifying that it may not be used to harm others. Rachel Laser, […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Ethan Magistro: White Evangelicals’ Religion-Based Science Denialism Is Slowing Vaccination Rates
Although close, the United States fell short of President Joe Biden’s July 4 goal to have 70% of Americans receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines. So far about 65% of Americans have received a first dose, but the rate of vaccination is steadily declining. While vaccine hesitancy was high among various groups at the beginning […]
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Rob Boston: Trump Adviser Unleashes Error-Filled Attack On Separation Of Church And State
July 29, 2020 – During a recent campaign event, Jenna Ellis, an adviser to President Donald Trump, cut loose with the old Religious Right chestnut that separation of church and state isn’t part of the Constitution. “The left is going to tell you there’s this separation of church and state, and that’s just nowhere in […]
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Supreme Court Protects Religious Freedom, Public Health By Allowing California Order To Stand
May 30, 2020 – Tonight, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request for a religious exemption to California’s public health order that temporarily limits both religious and secular gatherings – a measure enacted to protect people from the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Casting the deciding vote in a 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts […]
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Religious Services Shouldn’t Be Excluded From Bans Against Large Gatherings To Protect Public Health From Coronavirus, Says AU
April 8, 2020 – Americans United for Separation of Church and State praised faith communities that are protecting public health by halting in-person worship services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and urged government officials to follow the guidance of public health experts and not exempt religious services from temporary bans against gatherings of large groups of […]
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Rachel Laser: State Department Declaring Secretary Pompeo a “Christian Leader” Mocks Church-State Separation
Oct. 15, 2019 – Americans United President and CEO Rachel Laser issued the following statement in response to the U.S. State Department declaring Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “Christian Leader”: It’s perfectly fine for Secretary Pompeo to be a leader who is Christian. But he cannot use his government position to impose his faith […]
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Americans United Denounces Trump Administration’s Rule to Promote Employment Discrimination by Government Contractors
August 14, 2019 – Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s proposed rule, announced today, that would misuse religious freedom to allow taxpayer-funded employment discrimination against women, LGBTQ people, religious minorities and other marginalized people: “We believe no […]
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Americans United CEO Testifies on Capitol Hill: Reject Efforts to Use Religion to Justify Discrimination
June 25, 2019 – Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser today testified before the House Education and Labor Committee to urge members of Congress to support the Do No Harm Act and crack down on the Trump-Pence administration’s misuse of religious freedom to justify discrimination. During the hearing, […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Rob Boston: Supreme Court Says A Cross On Government Land In Maryland Can Stay. What Now?
June 20, 2019 – So what happened at the U.S. Supreme Court this morning with the Bladensburg Cross? Americans United’s attorneys have been poring over the decision in American Legion v. American Humanist Association. It’s fairly complicated; just about every justice had something to say. Here’s a quick analysis: The majority allowed the cross to […]
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Americans United, Lambda Legal, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Santa Clara County Urge Court to Immediately Halt Implementation of Denial of Care Rule
June 12, 2019 – Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Lambda Legal, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Santa Clara County late yesterday urged the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to block implementation of the Denial of Care Rule to protect patients nationwide while the coalition’s lawsuit challenging the rule […]
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Liz Hayes: Abortion Is A Church-State Separation Issue. That’s Why We Need To Stop The Bans.
May 26, 2019 – The aggressive abortion ban bills being considered in states across the country may not explicitly mention religion, but it’s clear that these bills and the restrictive policies they propose are religiously motivated. Take Alabama, for example: Last week, Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed into law a total abortion ban, which provides […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Andrew L. Seidel: Trump pushes bible class in public schools, backs Project Blitz
Jan. 28, 2019 – Early this morning, Donald Trump was thinking about the bible. Or, to be a bit more precise, he was watching Fox News, as is his wont, when he saw a state representative on Fox & Friends talking about his push for bible classes in North Dakota public schools. Trump took to his favorite platform […]
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Rob Boston: Not Bothered By Religious Displays On Government Property? Good For You. Many Others Still Are.
Dec. 18, 2018 – AU Legal Director Richard B. Katskee took part in a symposium last week sponsored by the popular website SCOTUSblog, which covers cases at the U.S. Supreme Court. Richard was among several writers commenting on a pending case challenging the government’s display of a 40-foot-tall cross in Bladensburg, Md. The cross has […]
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Liz Hayes: Kellyanne Conway Blames Comedians, Not Trump’s Inflammatory Rhetoric, For Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
Oct. 30, 2018 – A reminder to President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway and other presidential advisers attempting to distance Trump’s ongoing inflammatory rhetoric from Saturday’s mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue: Words matter. Trump has built his political career by fueling the flames of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and xenophobia, by bolstering the legitimacy of white Christian […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Liz Hayes: Values Voter Summiters Make The Case For Using Religion To Harm Others
Sept. 24, 2018 – During the Values Voter Summit (VVS) over the weekend, leaders and followers of the Religious Right made clear they plan to continue their attempts to weaponize religious freedom as a means to justify discrimination, particularly against LGBTQ people and women. Undermining the wall of separation between church and state was a […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Liz Hayes: White Evangelical Christians Are Only Religious Group To Approve Of Trump, Country’s Direction
July 23, 2018 – A new poll confirms that white evangelical Christians have very different views from just about everyone else on the state of America – which makes the influence they’re trying to exert over policy decisions in our federal and state governments all the more alarming. “White evangelical Protestants are sitting in their […]
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Americans United Denounces Supreme Court Opinion Permitting Implementation Of President Trump’s Muslim Ban
June 26, 2018 – The U.S. Supreme Court this morning ruled 5-4 in Trump v. Hawaii that President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban, a policy that blocks travel to the United States by people from several Muslim-majority nations, may remain in place. Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, issued the following statement: “The Supreme […]
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Rokia Hassanein: Trump Hurts His Legal Argument In The Muslim Ban By Comparing It To His Family Separation Policy
June 21, 2018 – The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hand a decision on the Muslim ban case any day now – maybe even tomorrow. President Donald J. Trump, meanwhile, is doing his side no favors. He reportedly compared the cruel and inhumane ban to his highly controversial policy of family separation at the […]
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Americans United Criticizes Attorney General For Use Of Bible Passage To Defend Border Detention Policies
June 15, 2018 – Americans United for Separation of Church and State today sharply criticized U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for citing the Bible to defend the Trump administration’s policy of separating families at the border with Mexico. “Sessions’ statement is profoundly disturbing,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “The separation of […]