Friday, June 8, at 12 Noon

Religious Right Organizations to Rally
in the Following Locations: click here

Questions? Contact Stuart Bechman at sbechman@atheists.org

 

On Friday, June 8, two Religious Right groups — Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society — will host rallies in a number of cities nationwide. The events are misleadingly named “Stand Up For Religious Freedom” and are designed to push back against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services decision on birth control coverage in the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

We want you to be aware of this, in case a rally is planned for your city.  For more information on the events, click here.

For rally locations click here.

AA has produced a flyer template for affiliate use for any affiliate that may organize a counter-rally.  Simply fill in the designated sections with your organization name and the location of the local event.  You should also add chapter contact information at the bottom.

Here is the flyer text:

STAND UP FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Protect The Rights Of Americans To Choose For Themselves

[YOUR ORGANIZATION NAME HERE] is participating in the “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” rally at [YOUR LOCATION HERE] to call for supporting the wall of separation between church and state in America.

This rally is to support the First Amendment and the restrictions placed on our government from using religious dogma as a basis for any U.S. law, including religious exemptions to the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The First Amendment is currently under attack by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and other conservative religious groups that are seeking to redefine the concept of religious liberty to guarantee them religious privilege and freedom from accountability.

Religious freedom does not include the right to interfere with the rights of others.  Religious institutions have the right to participate in our society on the same basis as all other institutions. They do not have the right to dictate the rules in which they get to participate.

To reinterpret the First Amendment to grant privileges and exemptions to large religious institutions would mean the depriving of the exercise of personal religious conscience by individuals who do not share the religious dogmas of those institutions but who nonetheless are employed by or use the services provided by those institutions.

On this particular issue, granting religiously affiliated organizations a sweeping right to opt out of the contraceptive coverage rules would have two adverse social effects:

• The exemption would provide religious organizations with a competitive advantage over other non-religious service providers who would still be expected to cover the cost of contraceptive coverage to their employees; and
• All Americans who work for any of the religious institutions would be denied the ability to exercise their own religious and human right to make their own reproductive choices.

Neither outcome is morally justifiable.

Over 98% of sexually active U.S. women, including those from the religious groups standing loudest against this requirement, use birth control at some point in their lives.  The leaders of those churches are hypocritical in demanding that government enforce the doctrines that they themselves are unable to persuade their own parishioners to follow and unethical in demanding that they be allowed to impose their doctrines on others who do not agree with those doctrines.

The contraceptive coverage required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act supports the right of all Americans to make their own reproductive decisions. It is reasonable to expect that taxpayer-funded institutions that serve the public follow the law in supporting the exercise of reproductive choice by their employees.

We demand and expect that:

• Government enact policies ensuring that the contraceptive coverage required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act supports the religious and human rights of all Americans to make their own reproductive decisions;
• Religious communities and leaders not be permitted to use taxpayer funds or government policy to further their dogma;
• Religious privilege be kept out of our government and our laws.

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If you have any questions, or for a printable copy of the flyer, contact Stuart Bechman at sbechman@atheists.org.  And please let us know if you are able to take action!