Dear Friend,

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. That’s why Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.

The lawsuit, filed during a week that began with National Religious Freedom Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day and ends with the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, explains that Missouri legislators violated the state Constitution by enshrining their personal religious beliefs into law when they enacted a “trigger” law to ban all abortions immediately after the Supreme Court struck down Roe.

Reproductive freedom is religious freedom because we should all be free to make our own decisions about our own bodies according to our own moral and religious beliefs. And as you know well, many people support the right to an abortion and bodily autonomy because of their belief system. Our robust and diverse group of clergy plaintiffs are committed to striking down the Missouri abortion ban, because they believe so deeply in both reproductive and religious freedom.

To learn more about our trailblazing lawsuit, sign up today for a virtual briefing with AU CEO Rachel Laser & NWLC CEO Fatima Goss Graves on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. EST. RSVP today by clicking here: [link removed]

At AU, we’re tired of the polite fiction that abortion bans don’t force every citizen to follow one religious doctrine. Missouri officials repeatedly told us that they were imposing religious law and even wrote into the most recent set of restrictions “that Almighty God is the author of life.” These religious extremists are violating the Missouri Constitution’s promise to keep church and state separate. The narrow and extreme religious beliefs of a vocal, politically powerful minority cannot be given the force of law.

With hope and determination,

Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO

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