Most states have religious exemptions to COVID-19 social distancing rules

In an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, every state in the United States has issued guidelines or orders limiting social interaction. But these rules don’t always apply evenly when it comes to in-person worship services and other religious gatherings. In fact, only 10 states are preventing in-person religious gatherings in any form, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of recent state-level regulations. Roughly a third of states (15) are allowing religious gatherings to continue without any limit on their size.

Americans are divided by religion on who should get critical care if there is a shortage of ventilators

In the U.S. and elsewhere, questions at the intersection of medicine and morality have arisen because of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as who should be given priority if some hospitals do not have enough ventilators for all patients who need help breathing. Should it be patients who need the ventilators most at the time, even if that means more lives overall are lost? Or patients with the highest chance of recovery, even if that means some people are denied potentially life-saving care based on their age or health status? Americans are split on this question, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. And there are stark differences in opinion based on respondents’ religious affiliation and how religious they are.

Few U.S. sermons mention abortion, though discussion varies by religious affiliation and congregation size

Abortion remains a contentious issue among U.S. Christians. But when millions of churchgoers file into the pews each week, what do they really hear? A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that just 4% of sermons shared on U.S. church websites in the spring of 2019 discussed abortion even once – and when they did, it was rarely mentioned repeatedly. Still, pastors who broached the topic were nearly unanimous in their opposition.

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