News From The Week Of August 30 – September 03, 2021

Friend:

It’s Orwellian in the extreme.

Not only has Texas outlawed abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy—before most people even know they are pregnant—but it has deputized private citizens to sue anyone whom they believe* is violating the new law by helping someone get an abortion.

(*And we know just how fact-based anti-choice beliefs can be.)

This is religious extremism run amok. Religion should never be used to harm others. But in Texas, it can now be used to deny people critical reproductive health care AND take providers and virtually anyone who “aids or abets” them to court and cost them a fortune in legal fees.

Even worse—if that’s possible: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. For people in Texas, Roe v. Wade is essentially dead-letter law. No doubt other states will follow suit.

Defenders of separation between government and religion are sometimes accused of crying wolf and exaggerating the threat of Christian nationalism. But you and I know the wolves have been at the door for generations; now they’re gnawing through the wood.

When the Court refused to block the draconian Texas law, AU demanded that it intervene ([link removed]) and put a stop to this out-of-control attack on reproductive and religious freedom. Even if, as many of us fear, its conservative majority is angling to overturn Roe v. Wade in the coming year, abortion remains legal right now.

I was planning to focus this message on the arrival of AU’s new class of Youth Organizing Fellows. Suffice it to say—our youth fellows give me tremendous hope, and continuing to connect with a new generation of leaders is going to be a critical part of fixing the brokenness we are witnessing.

It’s been a tough week. But with your support, we’ll continue to do our part to uphold the freedom and equality that our Constitution promises.

With hope and determination,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

Know Your Rights! How The Ten Commandments Led Me To Americans United:
AU Associate Vice President for Communications Liz Hayes didn't know the phrase 'Christian nationalism' when she was in high school, but she felt it nonetheless – the impression that she was somehow less patriotic, less American because she wasn’t Christian like she assumed everyone else was.
READ MORE » [link removed]

Know Your Rights! A Coach At My High School Wanted To Pressure Students To Pray. Americans United Made Him Stop:
Even as an eighth-grader, Policy Advocate Sam Sokol knew that a coach and teacher leading students in prayer at her New Jersey school was wrong. It made many students – including her – feel alienated in their own school.
READ MORE » [link removed]

Know Your Rights! Ensuring That Public Schools Welcome The Boy Who Was Left Behind:
Growing up in Omaha, Neb., as part of the small Jewish community there, AU Legal Director Richard Katskee experienced the discomfort of not quite fitting in with the religious majority at his public school. A Jehovah's Witness classmate had it even worse.
READ MORE » [link removed]

­­Know Your Rights! Religion And Government Don’t Mix In Public Schools – And That Means ALL Religions:
From her experiences as a Jewish kid in a predominantly Jewish public school in Philadelphia, to living and working in Israel where there is no formal division between religion and state, AU Vice President for Strategic Communications Naomi Paiss became a strong supporter of religion-state separation.
READ MORE » [link removed]

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