The next time you go to the hospital, you should not have to worry that a nurse might not treat you because it against his religion to provide the service you need. You also should not have to worry that police officers might not enforce certain laws designed to protect you because to do so would offend their religious beliefs.
Yet legislation soon to be introduced in the U.S. Senate would greatly increase the chances of such scenarios actually occurring. One of your Senators co-sponsored this legislation in the last session of Congress; please act now to help ensure that neither of your Senators co-sponsors the bill this year.
Many people came to America to flee religious intolerance and our religious freedom and religious plurality are one of the cornerstones of American society. Because of this freedom, each of us has the right to practice -- or not practice -- the religion of our choice. However, if you are police officer or doctor, you should not be able to refuse to fulfill your duty in a particular situation on religious grounds if it would result in harm to someone else's civil rights or healthcare.
What religious exceptions have people tried to claim in the past? A nurse employed in a maternity ward sued after she was fired because she refused on religious grounds to scrub for an emergency caesarian section and left a woman ""standing in a pool of blood"" for 30 minutes. In another case, a police officer sued after he was fired because he refused to guard an abortion clinic. The courts rightly rejected these cases, but legislation expected to be shortly introduced could give similar claims greater protections.
There are a lot of good reasons for Congress to strengthen the rights of employees to take time off for religious observances or to wear religious clothing or a beard. But the Workplace Religious Freedom Act is so sloppily drafted that it could cause a wide range of harm to coworkers, patients and customers.
If this legislation passes, more people would seek exemptions that harm coworkers or patients and have a greater chance of winning. If you care about a fair workplace and health services, you should oppose this dangerous legislation.
Take Action! Urge your Senators to oppose legislation -- such as the Workplace Religious Freedom Act -- that would endanger civil rights and health care by allowing employees to claim religious exemptions as reasons for failing to do their duty.
The Workplace Religious Freedom Act could gut employer's nondiscrimination policies that go beyond the minimum that federal law requires. Many employers have their own civil rights policies and employee training that provide more protection than the law minimally requires against racial, sexual and religious harassment -- and include categories such as sexual orientation and marital status. Employees could use this bill to claim that their religion requires them to flout these civil rights policies. It could also bolster the claims of employees that they do not have to comply with state and local civil rights laws that protect against sexual orientation or marital status discrimination.
This bill would harm the health and safety of people seeking health care. The legislation would strengthen the hand of police officers who want to pick and choose who they will protect, and emergency health care workers and mental health counselors who could abandon patients because their care conflicts with the worker's religious beliefs.
This legislation would make it significantly harder to get health or safety information or services. Employees would be even more likely to claim that their religion prohibits them from providing contraceptive care or HIV prevention counseling -- even if the employer has no one else to provide those services.
TAKE ACTION!