Statement on Religious Freedom Day by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

Today is Religious Freedom Day—a federal observance to commemorate Thomas Jefferson’s determination that the United States would not be considered a “Christian nation.” Jefferson’s original statute disestablished an official state church for the new nation, and provided that no one be compelled to attend any religious institution or underwrite it with taxes, and that individuals are free to believe as they will and that this “shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”

Today, we observe Religious Freedom Day by recognizing that women are at grave risk from Donald Trump and those who are using their personal religious views to discriminate against women especially women of color, trans women and women living in poverty. They would deny women birth control and access to abortion care, divert them towards fake crisis pregnancy centers and hold them back from economic advancement with jobs that oppress them, put them at risk of sexual harassment and abuse, and perpetuate a culture of submission.

False religious justifications are used to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ people in public accommodations, jobs and housing, and also against secular humanists and atheists as well as those who practice other religions.

The religious right must not be allowed to hijack Religious Freedom Day for their own propaganda purposes. Their America is not the Founders’ America, and it’s not ours.

Women know the truth: religious freedom does not mean freedom to discriminate.

Contact

Emily Imhoff, press@now.org, 951-547-1241

Statement by President of NOW Toni Van Pelt:

Donald Trump’s repellent complaint about too many immigrants from “s-hole” countries is more than a window into his racist soul. His hate speech must be heard as a call to action to the public to defend the most fundamental pillars of our democracy.

Immigration is a feminist issue. Women and their children comprise approximately three-quarters of people migrating to the United States each year. Seventy percent of immigrant women attain legal status through a family-based visa, but the backlog is so severe that about four million people are currently waiting to be reunited with their families — some have already waited decades. Moreover, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender immigrants are not allowed to sponsor their partners or children for residency despite raising children and owning homes together.

We already know that Donald Trump disrespects women and treats them with contempt in his private life. Now we see that Trump’s misogynist, racist worldview props up his ruthless determination to defame, shame and discriminate against immigrant women as a matter of national policy.

Our nation has a shameful history of powerful politicians who encourage and enable bigotry. But we have also risen up to oppose racists and fascists, whether they wear white sheets or whether they spew hatred from the Oval Office.
We need an immigration process that treats women fairly and humanely, and recognizes the value of their contributions to the U.S. economy and society.

Donald Trump has spoken his truth and revealed his core failings not only as a leader, but as a human being. Now, it’s up to us to rise up and speak our truth. Silence is not an option.

Contact

Emily Imhoff, press@now.org, 951-547-1241

Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

When Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) promised Mitch McConnell her vote on the Republican tax bill, she was promised action on legislation to stabilize the health care markets in return. But anti-abortion ideologues in Congress are insisting on including an exception in the spending bill that would include Hyde Amendment language prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion.

The Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortion care. This effectively bans the procedure for countless individuals–notably women enrolled in Medicaid. Worse still, low-paid women, young women, and women of color are hit hardest by the restriction.

The law’s author, former Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde, justified it as politically expedient, saying: “I certainly would like to prevent, if I could legally, anybody having an abortion—a rich woman, a middle-class woman, or a poor woman.”

With these measures added to the stopgap government funding bill, the GOP has moved on from a tax bill that contained a stealth attack on Obamacare to a government funding bill that’s a vehicle for a Hyde Amendment Trojan Horse.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that adding Hyde Amendment language to the bill would “kill it altogether.” We will hold Senate Democrats to account and expect they will prevent this dead of night sneak attack on abortion care for the poorest and most vulnerable women.

Contact

Emily Imhoff, press@now.org, 951-547-1241