Tag: state

Is Religious Freedom Dead in the US?

Is Religious Freedom Dead in the US?

By Matthew Bitterman

Since its independence, the United States has been a secular nation. The concept of separation of church and state is key, and written in our nation’s founding documents. Sadly, all three branches of the federal government have worked to erode this constitutional principle in recent years. Now, with an extremist majority in control, the US Supreme Court has taken a decisive step to completely do away with that cornerstone of governance.

Without uttering a single word, the leaked US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs Wade clearly links religion and government.  The decision cites the primary reason to overturn Roe as the absence of the recognition of a right to privacy anywhere in the Constitution. This has long been argued by extremists like Rick Santorum as the reason several decisions were incorrectly decided and must be overturned. The recognition to the right to privacy is the cornerstone of decisions recognizing the right to same-sex marriage, to interracial marriage and to contraception. All of these decisions are adamantly opposed by religious extremists, and now by the new US Supreme Court majority.

The right to privacy is the key principle in each of these decisions. It is not mentioned in the Constitution, but neither are many other accepted parts of our daily lives. Can the Supreme Court only issue decisions based on the precise words found in the Constitution? If so, how can it issue a single decision about 21st century concerns such as personal use of the internet.

Each of the justices voting to overturn Roe, thereby enabling all US states and commonwealths to outlaw abortion, has a personal agenda driven in great part by their own religious views. Their inability to separate their person religious worship from their position on the bench is extremely unethical and runs in direct opposition to the founding principle of separation of church and state. This raises the question, how long will it be before Americans are forced to adopt a singular religious view, one – like in Nazi Germany or Russia or China – is dictated by the government and not individual belief? People came to this country to worship freely, away from dictatorial controls.

Individual religions regard abortion and contraception differently, as they do same-sex marriage. Individual people do too. The value of individualism has always been one presented as a cherished aspect of our lives here in the United States. Unfortunately, it is not regarded as it once was. (The Buffalo shooting and its tie to the “great replacement conspiracy theory”  are frightening evidence of that.)

Essentially if Roe vs Wade is officially overturned, religious freedom in the United States will have taken another step in the wrong direction. Personal belief will no longer be “personal”. It will be increasingly state regulated and decided.

You can’t make this up! In Arizona pregnancy begins when a woman…

It’s all about who controls state government– Arizona just passed three more extreme anti-choice laws.

1. Pregnancy/gestation is now counted as beginning on the last day of a woman’s period, with abortion only permitted up to 18 weeks, the shortest time span in the nation;
2. Doctors can withhold health information about a fetus from the woman if that information might lead her to have an abortion; and
3. Rules mandating how schools may teach about unwanted pregnancies.

As we look around the country, watch what is going on in Washington DC, and hear the GOP candidates attack a woman’s right to contraception, we realize our state governments are our last line of defence. States controlled by an ultra-conservative anti-women legislators are systematically turning back the clock to a time where the rythm method was the only form of birth control available to women; where women who have sexual relations are called “sluts”; and single parenthood is deemed child abuse. States after states are passing laws that take away a woman’s dignity and control over her own body, and, thus, her life.  Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Colorado…the list of states taking away our rights is sadly seemingly endless.  And, YES, it could happen here in New York.
Who is making the rules that govern our state? Right now it is the Republican-controlled NYS Senate, led by anti-choice extremist Republican Majority leader Dean Skelos. To protect our rights and to pass the Reproductive Health Act that guarantees that every woman can make her own personal, private health care decisions, especially when her health is endangered. Seven out of 10 New York voters – across religious and party lines – support the Reproductive Health Act. Too bad Skelos doesn’t care. If New Yorkers are to take control of their bodies and health, we must get rid of the Republican controlled majority in our state senate.

from the Huffington Post, 4/11/2012

“Arizona lawmakers gave final passage to three anti-abortion bills Tuesday afternoon, including one that declares pregnancies in the state begin two weeks before conception.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill to prohibit abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy; a bill to protect doctors from being sued if they withhold health information about a pregnancy that could cause a woman to seek an abortion; and a bill to mandate that how school curriculums address the topic of unwanted pregnancies.

The 18th week bill includes a new definition for when pregnancy begins. All of the bills passed the Senate and now head to Gov. Jan Brewer (R) for her signature or veto. Passage of the late-term abortion bill would give Arizona the earliest definition of late-term abortion in the country; most states use 20 weeks as a definition.

A sentence in the bill defines gestational age as “calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman,” which would move the beginning of a pregnancy up two weeks prior to conception.

Elizabeth Nash, states issues manager for Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization in Washington, said the definition corresponds with how doctors typically determine gestational age. She said since the exact date of conception cannot be pinpointed, doctors use the day of the woman’s last menstrual period to gauge the duration of a pregnancy. The method does not provide an exact date.

“It will have some impact, from what we understand there are abortions provided at that point in Arizona,” Nash said. “It will reduce access.”

Nash said nationally, 1.5 percent of abortions in the U.S. occur after the 21st week and 3.8 percent occur between the 16th and 20th weeks. She said the bill would violate U.S. Supreme Court rulings on abortion by mandating a cutoff date that is before viability and not having enough provisions for late-term abortions needed to protect a woman’s health.

State Rep. Kimberly Yee (R-Phoenix), the bill’s sponsor, was not immediately available for comment. Her assistant said that Yee, a former aide to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), was voting on the House floor.

State Rep. Matt Heinz (D-Tucson), a physician, said he did not want the state to set the gestational age since science could not provide a precise one. “I imagine it will be a legal dispute. How can a judge determine gestational age?” Heinz said. “If medical science can only determine gestational age to within 10-14 days, how can a superior court judge do it?”

The other two bills passed by the House include the state’s “wrongful birth, wrongful life” bill that prohibits lawsuits against doctors who do not provide information about a fetus’ health if that information could lead to an abortion. In addition, parents cannot sue on the child’s behalf after birth.

The third bill requires that schools teach students that adoption and birth are the most acceptable outcomes for an unwanted pregnancy.

All three bills are now headed to Brewer’s desk for her review. The governor has not announced a position on the bills, which is her practice, but her spokesman indicated that Brewer has a long commitment to pro-life issues.”

also read:
Not All “20-Week” Bans Are Created Equal: A Closer Look at How Abortion Bans Diverge from Medical Protocol and Put Women at Risk
Arizona Lawmakers Trying To Legislate Pregnancy Two Weeks Prior To Conception
How Nebraska’s 20-Week Abortion Ban Became One Family’s nightmare and Why We Need to Ban The Bans
Mississippi’s “Heartbeat” Ban Returns