Using Religion to Discriminate

With increasing frequency, individuals and institutions are attempting to claim a right to refuse to provide services or care based on religious objections. For instance, religiously affiliated hospitals could refuse to perform medically necessary abortions for pregnant women in life-threatening situations, or a landlord could refuse to rent to a family simply because they are Muslim. Through litigation, advocacy and public education, the ACLU works to defend religious liberty and protect people of all faiths from religious discrimination. Learn more >>

02/06/2012

Using Religion to Discriminate

ACLU's Laura Murphy on the "Today" Show Tuesday Morning

By Alicia Gay, ACLU at 6:02pm

Tune into NBC at 7 a.m. to watch Laura talk about the president's decision that ensures contraception is covered by the new health insurance plans.

02/03/2012

Using Religion to Discriminate

Gerson Gets it Wrong on Contraception

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:44pm

Earlier this week, Michael Gerson’s disregard for the health of women and their families appeared once again on the pages of the Washington Post.

The affront? The administration’s announcement that all new health insurance plans — except those held by churches and other houses of worship — will need to include coverage for birth control because it’s essential preventive health care for women.

01/23/2012

Contraception

ACLU Lens: White House Affirms Contraception Coverage for Millions of Women

By Robyn Shepherd, ACLU at 1:32pm

Last week, the Obama administration stood for reproductive rights and refused to broaden exemptions to a rule that requires employers to provide health insurance for contraception.

01/23/2012

Using Religion to Discriminate

Birth Control Decision Defends Religious Liberty

By Louise Melling, Center for Liberty at 12:00pm

(A version of this post was originally published in the Washington Post "On Faith" opinion section on Friday, January 20.)

Recognizing the importance of birth control to women’s health and lives, the Obama administration stood firm today against the political strong-arming of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other religious groups that oppose contraception. This is a major victory for women’s health that we should all celebrate. But the path to today’s victory was not a foregone conclusion.

01/20/2012

Using Religion to Discriminate

Score One for Women's Health! Obama Administration Stands Up For Birth Control

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:39pm

Today, the Obama administration announced that it would keep in place a proposed rule that ensures that new insurance plans include contraception coverage.

11/21/2011

Contraception

Serving the People or the Bishops?

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:15pm

The politically powerful U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have been on an all-out campaign to force their beliefs on the rest of us.

11/18/2011

Using Religion to Discriminate

Helping Trafficking Victims Isn’t Biased

By Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 9:44pm

Earlier this week, Michael Gerson, an op-ed writer for The Washington Post, penned a particularly troubling piece, accusing the Obama administration—and the ACLU—of anti-Catholic bias, because “the conscience protections of Catholics are under assault.”

The “conscience protections” he mentions are really a license for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, powerful lobbyists whose political agenda differs from lay Catholics sitting in the pews, who contracted with the government to provide services to victims of trafficking, to refuse to provide access to one set of critical services—the full range of reproductive health care, which includes contraception and abortion.

11/17/2011

Using Religion to Discriminate

ACLU Lens: Using Religion as an Excuse for Discrimination

By Robyn Shepherd, ACLU at 12:21pm

This week, the U.S. Conference on Catholic Bishops is holding its annual meeting in Baltimore. The bishops are the lobbying arm of the Catholic church, and they hold substantial sway over lawmakers. But instead of focusing on issues like poverty or the economy, the bishops are instead complaining loudly that recent laws broadening women’s access to contraception and granting same-sex couples the freedom to marry amount to an assault on their religion.

However, as this Media Matters piece attests, this is hardly the case.

10/12/2011

EMTALA

Watch Your Back — They're Gambling with Your Life

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:28pm

The House is slated to vote today on an unprecedented bill that would allow hospitals to let women die at their doorsteps.

09/30/2011

Using Religion to Discriminate

Keep Your Beliefs Out of My Birth Control

By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:56pm

It's a big week for birth control. This Monday marked World Contraception Day — a day that raises awareness about contraception access around the globe. Today is the deadline for weighing in with the Department of Health and Human Services on important new guidelines that ensure coverage of contraception in health plans without extra out-of-pocket costs — along with a narrow exception that allows certain religious institutions like churches, synagogues, and mosques, to exclude birth control from their health plans.

American Civil Liberties Union